Ohio proved to be a fertile recruiting ground for Ball State University in its 2007 recruiting class, with nine of its 24 recruits coming from the Buckeye State.
Those recruits provide a bulk of the talent, ranked fourth in the Mid-American Conference (79th overall) by Rivals.com. The University of Toledo, University of Akron and Miami University are all rated ahead of the Cardinals.
During the 2006 season, Ball State defeated all three Mid-American Conference teams it played from Ohio. The coaching staff believes those victories -¡- against Miami, Toledo and Kent State University - propelled the program's success in receiving commitments from Ohio players.
Ball State coach Brady Hoke said finishing 5-3 in conference play and winning at Toledo for the first time since 1991 was also important in establishing a foothold in Ohio.
"I think that weighs on kids' minds a little bit," Hoke said. "I think the two national television appearances did an awful lot for our program and Ball State."-á
The highest-rated recruit, according to Rivals.com, is Frank Edmonds from St. Edward's High School in Cleveland. The 5-foot-8-inch running back - a Rivals.com three-star prospect ranked 14th nationally among all-purpose backs - ran for more than 1,400 yards as a senior after hitting the 2,000 mark as a junior.
Hoke said Edmonds should compete right away for a starting sport.
"It's the whole package with Frank, from his academics to how he plays the game to the league that he plays in," Hoke said. "With his speed and shiftiness, he's similar in a lot of ways to MiQuale [Lewis], but maybe has a better speed component to go along with it."
Recruiting players from winning programs was another objective this year. The combined record of all the recruits from their senior seasons was 215-88, including four that won state titles in Ohio.
St. Henry High School and Piqua High School supplied two new Cardinals apiece, as each school won a state title in its respective class. The two players from Piqua, Pete Rolf and Jafe Pitcock, could contribute right away. Pitcock registered 78 solo tackles and 11 sacks along with earning honorable mention all-state honors.
Ball State and Miami were finalists for Pitcock's services. Pitcock told Rivals.com he felt Ball State's program was more "on track" at this point.
Dennis Moynihan, recruiting coordinator, said Ball State's 20-17 victory against the Redhawks in the regular season might have been the selling point.
"If you don't win that game you probably don't get Pitcock," Moynihan said. "If you don't go and beat Toledo on ESPN, you probably don't get Frank Edmonds. Getting those kids out of that state has been big because it has to be."-á
The other three-star recruit besides Edmonds is Rene Perry, a defensive tackle from Columbia High School in Florida. As a senior, Perry recorded 43 tackles and four sacks.
Simeon Kelley, who played quarterback in high school but will move to wide receiver, is intriguing as well. Kelley, from Grady High School in Atlanta, accounted for more than 2,500 yards of total offense and 34 touchdowns last fall. Moynihan said they're hoping Kelley is the next Dante Love.
"That's what we sold him on," Moynihan said. "He can be our guy to come in to run fades, he can also throw the ball. He's a multiple threat guy. He has the possibility of being a big game player."-á
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