Gardiner still a wanted man

Dublin (Ohio) Coffman linebacker Steve Gardiner is one of the top defenders in Ohio this season, and the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder continues to add to the teams that are showing him the most interested.

"I've definitely been hearing a lot from Indiana, Syracuse, Cincinnati and West Virginia," he said. "Then there's a few others like Nebraska and Michigan State. The top schools I'm most interested in are Michigan State, Ohio State, West Virginia, Indiana and Northwestern, but I've got a pretty long list."

He's also got a long list of schools that have offered him. He just recently picked up an offer from Indiana. That goes along with his offers from Syracuse, West Virginia, Ball State, Miami University and Cincinnati.

"I'm going to Ohio State and Michigan State for one day camps," he said. "Then also Northwestern, Indiana and West Virginia for camps. Then possibly Nebraska."

After racking up 125 tackles on defense last seasons, Gardiner is hoping for an even bigger senior season.

"We open against Troy," he said. "I expect to win. I don't know what anyone else thinks. I expect to win that one and all the rest of them. We've got a lot of players coming back. We've got a lot of good players also being looked at by college. We've got some really good players on defense that can hopefully step up."

In the mean time, he said he could have a decision this summer but also isn't going to rush it.

"I'd like to have my decision final before the season, but if I don't then it's fine," he said.