Wild week for Oliver

The recruiting scene has changed drastically in one week for Hamilton, Ohio's Marcus Oliver. Close to making his college selection at the beginning of last week, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker now has two new opportunities to consider.

"At the beginning of last week Miami (Ohio) was putting pressure on me, so we called around to find out what everyone was doing," Oliver said. "Indiana was kind of out of the picture at the beginning of the week, but UC called on Tuesday and said they want me in the program and were trying to find a way to get me there.

"Then, Friday came and around 12:30 [Indiana] called my coach and offered me, which was random and happened at the weirdest time ever because I was going to commit [to Miami-Ohio] Friday by 2:30. Later on that day, UC ended up offering too."

The offer from Cincinnati is for Oliver to grayshit and be on scholarship starting in January of 2014. Indiana's offer is a full offer, and those opportunities have essentially ended his recruitment with Miami-Ohio.

"I kind of told them that UC and Indiana offered," Oliver said. "My goal is to play big-time football."

With the offers from Cincinnati and Indiana, Oliver now has to decide which one to take and both coaching staffs have told him he has time to make that decision.

"Coach [Kevin] Wilson just said I have plenty of time and the offer is not going away," Oliver said. "Coach [Butch] Jones basically said I have as much time as I need… actually, he's asking me to take time.

"I am going to sit back with these two offers, take some time and figure out what I am going to do. I have grown attached to Indiana and UC has been my favorite growing up."

The new offers come after a senior season in which Oliver recorded 135 tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in just seven games. That performance helped earn Oliver respect from opposing coaches who went to bat for the senior linebacker.

"I got defensive player of the year in the GMC and all the coaches in the GMC were calling around trying to find out why I didn't have offers and telling them I was the real deal," Oliver said.

According to Oliver, official visits to one or both schools are likely before a decision is made. He attended Indiana's summer camp and has been to Cincinnati's campus multiple times.