Is Worthington worried about OSU

Athol Springs (N.Y.) St. Francis defensive end Doug Worthington said he is still an Ohio State commitment despite recent problems that have arisen in the Buckeyes program.

"Ohio State still most definitely," the 6-foot-7, 256 strongside defensive end said when asked who his favorite was. "Sure, I get a tad bit worried when you see things keep coming out. But I like the way when something was wrong, the school dealt with it, like the Troy Smith suspension. As long as Ohio State doesn't have any probation problems I'm still there. I hope they don't, but I'll look around just in case."

Worthington, the No. 5 strongside defensive end prospect in the country in the Rivals.com rankings, said he would visit Alabama on Jan. 7 and then Florida on Jan. 14. He said another visit would probably come to Boston College on Jan. 21.

"I'm going to just go through the recruiting process and see what happens," Worthington said. "I'm still a strong Ohio State commitment, but I'm going to look at other places, too."

Worthington watched a little bit of Ohio State's 33-7 win over Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl.

"They looked really good," he said. "I didn't get to see the whole thing, but I heard the defense was dominating. They played really good."

Worhtington didn't have a chance to see the whole game since he was playing high school basketball. He had 17 points and 15 rebounds as his team advanced to the championship game of a holiday tournament before losing.

"We had a good run, but didn't win it," Worthington said. "It was a good tournament for us."