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Times Recorder - www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com - Zanesville, Ohio

Tri-Valley's Ryan Spiker played in the shadow of All-Ohio teammate Adam Bice last season, when the Scotties rolled into the Division II Region 7 semifinals.
If recent weeks are any indication, he'll soon be leaving his own impressive legacy.

Spiker, a 6-4, 295-pound two-way lineman, recently received Division I scholarship offers from West Virginia and Indiana, and visited Ohio State for its junior day last weekend.

Scotties' coach Justin Buttermore said Spiker has also drawn interest from other BCS programs, including Notre Dame and South Carolina.

It has been a whirlwind three weeks for the junior, who wasn't sure what his college plans would be before the recent turn of events.

"We're getting a lot of stuff at once," Spiker said. "Because of NCAA rules they can't call me which is probably a good thing. I'd be getting 1,000 calls a day."

Like many recruits around Ohio, Spiker would love an offer from Ohio State, "because obviously it would be great to be able to go there. I think every kid in Ohio wants to play there."

But Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel told Spiker and other line recruits that they will be competing for scholarship offers. He met Tressel and spent time with incoming freshmen Mike Adams and Michael Brewster, both blue chip line recruits already enrolled at OSU.

"There are five other guys and only three scholarships," Spiker said. "A lot will depend on what happens at their summer camp. We're already working hard to get ready for next year."

Buttermore said it's a common theme with big-time programs.

"(OSU) obviously has a lot more people they can offer being Ohio State," Buttermore said. "That will be something that happens late (in the process) if it happens."

The process picked up speed after Spiker and Buttermore made an unofficial visit to Indiana the weekend of Feb. 16. After spending time touring the facilities and discussing the program with coaches and other recruits, he received an offer shortly before leaving for home.

The following Tuesday, Buttermore received a call from the Mountaineers.

"They offered him on the spot," Buttermore said. "We set up a visit, and one of their assistants showed the film to their head coach (Bill Stewart) the next morning, and they liked it so much that they wanted to offer him immediately."

Buttermore expects more offers to follow.

"He's 295 pounds and he's got great hands and great feet," Buttermore said. "He's just a tremendous athlete for a kid his size. Guys like him and (Bice) only come around about once every 20 or 30 years. They're just big athletic kids."

In the meantime, Spiker will visit WVU on March 15 and set up visits with other interested schools.

"Once you get that first offer they start coming in from other schools," Spiker said. "I know I'll have some decisions to make."