USA TODAY Sports’ Dan Wolken breaks down the five college football matchups to watch this week. USA TODAY Sports Ohio State Buckeyes safety Malik Hooker.(Photo: Joseph Maiorana, USA TODAY Sports) COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly every Friday during the fall of his freshman year, Malik Hooker would struggle through grueling workouts with fellow members of Ohio State’s scout team, attend class and then meet his mother, sister, an uncle, cousin or friend from New Castle, Pa., who would make the two-plus-hour drive to campus to bring Hooker back home. My bags are packed, he’d say. As soon as I’m done with class we’re on the road. It was back home that Hooker’s basketball prowess earned him the nickname “King of Castle,” with that athleticism on clear display during Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell’s trips to evaluate the three-star prospect from within the Buckeyes’ 250-mile recruiting bubble. There are more five-star recruits in this city than five-star restaurants; three-star recruits are the exception, not the norm. Ohio State is the sort of place where, as quarterback J.T. Barrett said, “You’re the small fish in the big pond.” USA TODAY USA TODAY Sports college football staff picks for Week 11 Hooker was…
Continue Reading: Ohio State safety Malik Hooker goes from almost gone to breakout star
