By Bill Kurelic, NN Recruiting Analyst

bkurelic@nittanynetwork.com

April 14, 2009

After attending a Michigan spring practice on Thursday and the Wolverines’ spring game on Saturday, defensive end C.J. Olaniyan from Warren (Mich.) Mott is getting ready for another busy week.

“I’m going to a Michigan State practice (today),” Olaniyan said.  “I go to Ohio State on Saturday, Cincinnati on Sunday and Kentucky on Monday.”

The 6-foot-4 and 230-pound Olaniyan is one of the top prospects in Michigan.  He has been a varsity starter at defensive end and as a flex receiver since the beginning of his sophomore season.

Olaniyan made 85 tackles including nine sacks last season.  He had 14 tackles for loss.  On the other side of the ball Olaniyan caught 33 passes and scored three times.

Olaniyan has scholarship offers from Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Oregon, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Central Michigan.

When asked about Michigan’s spring game, Olaniyan said, “It was pretty nice.  I was kind of impressed with the freshman quarterback (Tate Forcier).  There wasn’t too much new, but the team looked better than they did last year.”

Penn State assistant Ron Vanderlinden is recruiting Olaniyan, who visited PSU on the weekend of March 22.  Olaniyan liked what he saw including the work of Nittany Lions defensive line Coach Larry Johnson as well as the workout he saw the Penn State players go through.

“I like Coach Johnson,” Olaniyan said. “He has a neat method of working with the linemen.  I like the way they do drills.  I had a nice meeting with Joe Paterno.  I like the way they run things (at Penn State).” 

Olaniyan does not anticipate making a decision on his college before the summer, but he also does not want to drag out the recruiting process.

“I’m not going to decide soon,” he said.  “But I could decide during the summer, you never know.  I want to at least decide before the fourth game of the season.”

Olaniyan said he does not currently have a favorite.