Just a few little things.

According to PSR’s e-mail update, Jordan Mabin out of Macedonia, Ohio is going to delay his decision. It was expected that he would decide this Friday. Pitt was the big favorite, but now Mabin is going to wait. Apparently Northwestern has really come on strong and he has decided to take official visits to each. It will likely be in September before he makes his choice. Mabin is a 3-star or 4-star DB recruit. (It could also be he is still waiting to see if an offer will come from Ohio State, but that is just speculation on my part.)

Pitt verbal commit Dom DeCicco does one of the “blue chip Q&A” for the P-G.

COLLEGE TALK: DeCicco made a verbal commitment to Pitt June 16, choosing the Panthers over scholarship offers from such schools as Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Indiana and Cincinnati. DeCicco could play a number of positions at Pitt but said he was recruited to most likely play receiver, with the possibility of moving to defensive back.

Then, just about 10 miles up Route 2 from where I live, is Painesville, Ohio. For the SF geeks, that is notable as the birthplace of Harlan Ellison. There’s also a potential sleeper offensive lineman by the name of Jeff Spikes.

Spikes hasn’t played football since the seventh game of his freshman year when he sustained a broken leg. One leg surgery and two years of pesky stress fractures in his feet later, Spikes’ lower body is back in working condition.

And college coaches are noticing.

“For sure,” said first-year Harvey coach Devlin Culliver. “If he produces those first three games, there’s a list of schools that will offer (a full-ride scholarship). Right now, we have 10-12 schools that are really interested but are going to wait for the first tapes to come through. Most want one game film. Ohio State will probably want three.

“The only thing holding up the whole show is the tape.”

The window of opportunity for a Division I football scholarship is a small one for Spikes, Culliver said, but he is confident the huge two-way starter can sneak through it.

He might just break through it, despite not playing football for more than two years.

Culliver said he didn’t really know what to expect from Spikes when he convinced the basketball and track standout to give football another try. When Spikes had his cast removed April 5 from surgeries on each foot, it left only two weeks to get ready for a scouting combine hosted by the Browns.

“He wasn’t able to do anything up until then,” Culliver said. “I was like, ‘Don’t fall down and don’t look clumsy.’ By the time he went over the first bag, I looked up and there were 40 coaches wanting to talk to him.”

Which floored Spikes. It wasn’t something he expected.

After all, the only game film available is from his freshman year, and what college coach bases a player’s ability solely on film from nearly three years ago?

Ohio University and Miami (Ohio) were the first two schools to come knocking. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt made the trip to Painesville not long after, and schools such as Bowling Green, Akron and North Carolina also took notice.

Culliver said the list is going to grow exponentially when game film becomes available.

“If Jeff would have played four years, he’d probably end up being a high school All-American,” Culliver said. “He has the natural ability to play the position. He’s a prototypical college tackle that big schools look for – the big, athletic, tight-end type of body. He understands the window is not real big to get this Division I scholarship, but barring an injury, I think he’ll play Division I somewhere.”

[Emphasis added.]

Spikes is quite literal in a way. He’s got a metal screw in each foot and 2 in one knee. Though, Pitt hasn’t offered (as noted, no school has), it is the highest profile school to show the earliest interest in him and he attended camp at Pitt.