Spotlight shines on Midwests top 5

As is always the case, the Big Ten region is loaded with prep football talent. With the Rivals100.com Recruiting Network rankings right around the corner, let's take a look this week at a sneak peak at the potential five-star recruits from the Midwest.

At the top of the list in the Midwest is

Prescott Burgess, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound strong safety at Warrren (Ohio) Harding.

Burgess is a super prospect that could play strong safety or outside linebacker in college. Burgess has been Harding’s starting strong safety since his sophomore season.

During his junior year Burgess made over 100 tackles and picked off two passes. He bench-presses 300 pounds and squats over 400. Burgess, who also starts on the Harding basketball team, has a 2.9 GPA.

“Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, there’s a lot of schools I’m looking at,” Burgess said.

“They all offered me. I’ve been looking a lot at Ohio State and Michigan.”

Martin O’Donnell is a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman at Downers Grove (Ill.) South and our early pick for the No. 2 spot in the Midwest. It’s a good year for offensive linemen in the state of Illinois and O’Donnell is one of those blockers recruiters are drooling over.

This big guy is strong, mobile, and has good feet.

He made virtually every Illinois all-state team last season, and for good reason. O ’Donnell, who has a 4.0 plus GPA, has everything recruiters are looking for in offensive line prospects.

“I’d say my favorites right now are probably Michigan, Stanford, Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue, and Notre Dame,” O’Donnell said.

“There are other schools I wouldn’t mind checking out too. Nebraska is a school I’d give a look. I have offers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, and Stanford. I’m also getting mail from a lot of other schools, like Kansas, Kansas State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska to name a few. Iowa probably sends me the most mail out of anybody.”

LaMarr Woodley is a 6-foot-3 and 245-pound linebacker at Saginaw, Mich.

Woodley, who is No. 3 on the list, made 112 tackles including 14 sacks last season. This very talented outside linebacker has started on the varsity since the last game of his freshman season. Woodley has excellent size, runs well, and is a big hitter. He has a 2.8 GPA.

“I don’t really have a top five,” Woodley said. “Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Virginia have offered me a scholarship. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, I get a lot of mail from those schools. I don’t have a favorite.”

Marcus Stone, a 6-foot-4 and 220-pound quarterback at Harrisburgh (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt, passed for 1,800 yards and 20 scores his sophomore season. Playing on an inexperienced team his junior year, Stone threw for 1,600 yards and 15 scores.

He is mostly a dropback type quarterback with the world of potential in college.

"I don't have any one school of interest," Stone said.

"I'm keeping my options pretty wide open. North Carolina State, Iowa, Michigan, Colorado, Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, those are some schools that I'll look at. North Carolina State, Iowa, Colorado, Pitt, Tennessee, Florida State, those are the ones that have offered me off the top of my head."

Justin Ostrowski is a 6-foot-5 and 255-pound lineman at Portage, Wis. Ostrowski, who is No. 5 on the list, is a big, athletic guy with the ability to play just about anywhere along the defensive line in college.

And he will do it for Barry Alvarez since Ostrowski committed to the Badgers in February. He picked Wisconsin over Notre Dame who also offered. Ostrowski, who has been a varsity starter since his freshman season, made 69 solo tackles and had 36 assists last season. He has a 3.6 GPA.

“Wisconsin is just 30 miles from home and coach Palermo is a great defensive line coach,” Ostrowski said. “It was hard to say no to Wisconsin.”