Jamel Deal Ohio State 2015 recruit

Jamel Dean, a freshman cornerback from Florida, enrolled at Ohio State in January and now his high school coach believes the Buckeyes are forcing him off the roster.

(247sports.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The high school football coach of Ohio State freshman Jamel Dean feels the Buckeyes are denying Dean his place on the team over a typical injury.

"It's ridiculous," John Wilkinson told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Wednesday. "It's totally wrong to do this to an 18-year-old kid who should be in high school, who you talked into coming up there early.

"You can't treat people this way."

Wilkinson is the coach at Cocoa High School in Florida, a talent hotbed that includes Ohio State 2017 oral commitment Bruce Judson, a top-20 player in his class; and Chauncey Gardner, a cornerback in the 2016 class who recently committed to Florida but continues to be pursued by the Buckeyes.

Asked if the treatment of Dean could affect his view of Ohio State in the future, Wilkinson said, "No doubt about that."

But his concern is the handling of a player who was the second pledge to Ohio State's 2015 class, making his oral commitment in December of 2013.

"I go on a kid-by-kid basis, and this is about Jamel, it's not about the other kids," Wilkinson said. "It's about taking care of a kid who was committed to you for 18 months, and you're pushing him out before he even got an opportunity. He didn't get a chance to do anything."

An Ohio State source told NEOMG, after the initial story was published, that Ohio State's medical staff disqualified Dean from playing after his initial physical in January and Ohio State didn't change from that position. The source said the OSU doctors deemed Dean's knee injury to be that serious, and that roster numbers had nothing to do with the situation.

Wilkinson contends that Dean could continue playing, and that Ohio State decided he couldn't. Dean tore his ACL in December of 2013, then returned for his senior season of football in 2014 and suffered a torn meniscus in his final game.

But Dean still enrolled at Ohio State in January for the start of the winter semester. He is around for spring football, though coaches said he wasn't participating. According to a report from 11 Warriors on Wednesday, Dean was not medically cleared to play by Ohio State.

Wilkinson confirmed that, but he said Dean had a second opinion from noted sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Wilkinson said Andrews' opinion was that Dean needed continued rehab on his knee and should be ready to resume full activities this summer. Meanwhile, Dean felt he was ready to contribute in some way this spring, and Wilkinson said he wasn't allowed to do that.

Wilkinson said he has been checking with other schools and that Dean will wind up at a school that will let him play.

"Someone is not going to take him if there's something medical there," he said.

But he said the only option at Ohio State was a medical hardship to end Dean's playing career but remain on scholarship. In that case, the scholarship does not count against the team's scholarship limit of 85.

"They're saying they're going to honor his scholarship, but honoring his scholarship doesn't allow him to play the game he loves to play," Wilkinson said. "It's all ridiculous and I don't appreciate them treating my kid this way.

"I'm sticking up for my kid. He was committed to them, but yet they're not fully committed to him."

The Buckeyes must be down to 85 scholarship players by the start of the season. They entered spring football at what looked like 88 scholarship players.

"How aware am I of the roster? About as well as you can be," coach Urban Meyer said on National Signing Day in February. "There's a couple guys that you're just not sure can continue playing. You have to just to be aware.

"But there's also the truth that you don't know for the next couple weeks, couple months, with these injuries what happens. So you have to prepare.

"But you also can't do the unthinkable and that's be stuck with 87 scholarship players come June or July."

Wilkinson said he has been concerned about this scenario for months. He said Ohio State performed an MRI on Dean less than a week after he arrived, and talk of Dean's career with the Buckeyes ending began then. Wilkinson said the doctor who Dean saw in Florida after last season had said it was a four- to six-week injury.

"I was not happy," Wilkinson said. "We are not happy on this side."

Wilkinson said he has been going back and forth with Ohio State coaches and staff since January.

"I knew it was going to get ugly," Wilkinson said.

* Updated at 5:15 p.m. with comment from Ohio State source.