Recruitment takes ugly turn for Jenkins

Offers are continuing to come in for stud 2015 offensive lineman Sterling Jenkins. The Pittsburgh (Pa.) Baldwin native has also already seen the repercussions of speaking his mind on social media now that he is well known in the recruiting world.

"My coach sent me a text saying a Tennessee coach called and offered me," said the 6-foot-8, 296-pound Jenkins. "I really don't know much about the program. I only know a little about the regional programs so the SEC is a whole other ballpark that I need to learn more about. I know one of the coaches there from when he was coaching somewhere else. He seemed like a cool guy."

A recent debacle on Twitter has taught Jenkins to be more thoughtful before posting controversial thoughts.

"Life in the recruiting world has been a little strange lately," he said. "People are thinking that I hate Ohio State. They are having some really crazy interpretations of who I am as a person. I really liked the facilities and the coaches there. It's really not that far and those are some of the reasons why I really do like Ohio State. I might want to get back there for an official visit.

"I tweeted a while ago that the Ohio State commits that I met were a lot cockier than the Michigan commits I've met," said Jenkins. "I tweeted that and people are saying I'm some racist, gangbanging, womanizing guy. I'm trying to think where they got all this from. It really came out of nowhere. I really didn't expect any of this."

Since then Jenkins has been taking a break from recruitment.

"I haven't talked to any schools lately," he said. "I've just been focusing on workouts. I need to call Coach Funk from Michigan and Coach Gibson from West Virginia to set up visits."

Even with the limited recent contact, Jenkins already likes the way a few schools are recruiting him.

"I'm feeling good about Michigan, Penn State and Pittsburgh," said Jenkins. "I feel like they like me and are recruiting me pretty hard. I want to go to a game and see some spring practices from them to check them out."

Jenkins was a participant in the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by Under Armour.