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The Best of the Midwest combine showcased many of the best players in the region for yet another year. The event featured almost 30 players with college offers, players with no offers but are close to "blowing up", and even some unknown players who are trying to make a name for themselves.
One player in attendance who has been piling up offers over the last month or so was Dublin (OH) Scioto linebacker Nick Conner. The standout linebacker was happy with some areas of his performance at the combine, but wants to improve his speed.
"I think I did well in the pro shuttle and the L-drill," Conner said following his workout. "I still think I should've done better in my 40-yard. I think I ran a 4.7 and I should be doing better than that."
Three schools close in proximity are recruiting him the hardest right now, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. He's also working hard towards landing an offer from his hometown school, Ohio State. It sounds like the offer he wants to land might become a reality this summer if he performs well in one of Ohio State's camps.
"People that have shown the most interest so far are Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana," he said. "I need to make a trip down to Indiana, then I'm working on the Ohio State offer. They (Ohio State) want to see me in person and everything, so I'll go to a camp there this summer."
Conner made the short trip from Dublin to the Ohio State campus last Tuesday with his family in order to meet with Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer. While Meyer didn't offer the in-state standout a scholarship on the visit, he made sure Conner knew the Buckeyes were very interested in him."
"I met with coach Meyer first. That was the main reason for going there," he continued. "He got to know my family and I got to know his and we talked a little bit about football and how he wants me around and everything, so I'm going to go to a spring practice and I'll get to walk around with coach Meyer when I'm there."
The 6'3, 225 pound linebacker has plans to make a trip to East Lansing on March first, where it's very possible he receives an offer from Michigan State. He is very impressed with the Spartans' defense.
"Definitely their defense," he stated. "They have a great defense, it's something that you want to you want to be a part of in college."
With Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky recruiting him the hardest right now, it's no surprise that he's been able to develop the best relationships with the coaches from those three staffs.
"Definitely coach Golesh (Illinois linebackers coach) because he actually went to my high school, so I've met with him a couple of times," Conner told Land-Grant Holy Land. "Then coach Morrow (Kentucky) and coach Inge, Indiana's new linebackers coach. He's a really good guy."
He doesn't really have a timetable for a college decision right now as he's waiting for more offers to come in before making any kind of decision.
If Ohio State offers, which I think they eventually will, they will be very tough to beat in the race for the local standout linebacker. One school to watch is Michigan State as he seemed to be very excited about the possibility of playing in the Spartans defense.
If you haven't seen Conner in-action, make sure to watch his highlights here.
