Fremd's Bobek commits to Ohio State
Brian Bobek was caught a bit off guard when Ohio State made a football scholarship offer about a month ago.
The Fremd junior center knew one of the country's premier college programs doesn't just give out offers to anyone. Bobek was tempted to make his decision right there but then decided to step back and make sure.
On Tuesday morning, Bobek was sure Ohio State was the right place for him as he gave the program a verbal commitment.
"It's pretty special when you get offered this early from a school of that caliber," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci.
"It's a dream come true," said Bobek, whose parents went to Iowa and his brother Jeff is a freshman walk-on fullback at Michigan State. "I've watched the Big Ten all of my life and my parents are incredibly happy with Ohio State. It's a good situation for me."
The 6-foot-3, 258-pound Bobek also had offers from Purdue, Michigan State and Ball State with interest picking up from Notre Dame, Michigan and Illinois.
But the future possibilities of playing early at Ohio State also looked bright since it is short on centers after starter Mike Brewster, who will be a senior when Bobek is a freshman.
"The offer was too good to pass up," Bobek said. "I was just kind of overwhelmed. I wasn't really expecting to be offered by Ohio State for awhile.
"Usually they're very deliberate about how they offer but they told me they couldn't pass up making an offer to me. That was very overwhelming to me."
Fremd senior Christian Lombard also made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame in January of his junior year before signing his letter of intent six weeks ago. Now Bobek can focus on helping Fremd continue its streaks of 15 playoff berths and seven Mid-Suburban West titles.
"I was thinking I'd try to have it done so I wouldn't have to think about it during my senior season," said Bobek, who is undecided on what he'll study but has a 3.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale with a 27 ACT. "That I was able to make my decision already worked out much better."