Louisville, Pitt lead for Ohio OL

Louisville and Pitt are the schools to beat for one of Ohio's top offensive line prospects.

That's what TC Klusman said when Rivals.com caught up with him on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive tackle from Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder has received offers from the Cardinals and the Panthers, in addition to Youngstown State, and he's intrigued by what both Big East schools have to offer. He's more familiar with Louisville than he is with Pitt but he's going to be learning more about the latter very shortly.

"My contact with Pitt has been limited to the past two or three weeks," Klusman explained. "I've been in contact with Louisville since March pretty extensively.

"I've visited Louisville twice and I've been calling them twice a week."

What did he think of Louisville while he was on campus?

"I was there one time just watching a practice with another (recruit)," he said. "Then after practice we talked to the coaches for a while. The next visit was just kind of a freak thing because my cousin was playing volleyball in Louisville and I just decided to go watch. I ended up stopping by to talk with the coaches for an hour. I like it a lot. It's definitely a place I could see myself playing."

Klusman said he will be visiting Pittsburgh for the first time on Friday and he will then camp at the school on Saturday. Both Pitt and Louisville have told Klusman he could play any position along the line while other schools that haven't offered yet, such as Northwestern, Duke and Cincinnati, have said he's probably more of a guard or a center.

"I would say the two schools that have already pulled the trigger, Pitt and Louisville, have an early lead," he said. "Other than that I'm not really sure."

Klusman has also visited Cincinnati, Duke, Northwestern and Kentucky. He was invited to Michigan's junior day but couldn't make it to that event. Among MAC schools he has been to Bowling Green, Toledo, Ohio and Miami-OH.

On June 10 he will attend Northwestern's camp and the next day he will camp at Louisville.

Klusman is hoping to make a decision prior to his senior season.