According to multiple reports, the Ohio State career of early-enrollee freshman Jamel Dean has not lasted long -- and his high school coach isn't happy about it.
Eleven Warriors reported Wednesday that Dean has not received clearance from the Buckeyes' medical staff following a torn ACL dating to November 2013 and other knee ailments, forcing him to leave the program. That report was corroborated by multiple other outlets, including 247Sports affiliate Bucknuts.
Dean's coach at Cocoa (Fla.) High School, however, told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer on Wednesday that the former four-star cornerback is physically capable of playing football again -- and that the Buckeyes' discarding of Dean after only a few weeks on campus is "ridiculous."
"It's totally wrong to do this to an 18-year-old kid who should be in high school, who you talked into coming up there early," an angry John Wilkinson said. "You can't treat people this way."
Per Eleven Warriors, Dean was offered a medical scholarship which would allow him to remain at Ohio State but not participate in football. Wilkinson confirmed that offer but said Dean had declined.
"They're saying they're going to honor his scholarship, but honoring his scholarship doesn't allow him to play the game he loves to play," Wilkinson said. "It's all ridiculous and I don't appreciate them treating my kid this way.
"I'm sticking up for my kid. He was committed to them, but yet they're not fully committed to him."
According to Wilkinson, no less an authority than Dr. James Andrews has said that continued rehab should allow Dean full participation as soon as summer workouts. Dean is expected to transfer and seek a medical opinion that will allow him to play for his new school.
After spending more than a year committed to Ohio State -- Dean was just the second player to join the Buckeyes' class of 2015* -- and graduating early from Cocoa to arrive ahead of time Columbus, it's safe to say that's not what Dean wanted at all ... and that whatever the accuracy of the conflicting medical reports surrounding Dean's knee, it's reason enough to understand Wilkinson's anger.
*A 27-member class that -- as noted elsewhere -- has left Ohio State with two or three extra scholarship players on its spring roster. We'll generously assume Urban Meyer's need to trim his roster down to 85 from 87 or 88 had no effect on the Ohio State medical staff's assessment of Dean's injuries, but it's certainly not a fact that's going to cool tempers on Wilkinson's side of things.
