Woodland Hills' Ejuan Price chooses Ohio State

Woodland Hills linebacker Ejuan Price made a verbal commitment to Ohio State Monday night, choosing the Buckeyes over fellow Big 10 school Iowa.

“Ohio State wasn’t necessarily No. 1 the whole way,” Price told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Iowa is still a great school, and I have a lot of respect for their coaches and university. Ohio State just kind of separated themselves in the end.”

Price, who is 6-foot, 230-pounds, is the third Woodland Hills player to commit to a Division I school this year. Lafayette Pitts has a verbal commitment to Pitt, although he has reopened his recruiting after the Panthers fired two coaches in less than a month and is also looking at Iowa, Maryland and Rutgers. Quinton Jefferson committed to Maryland last week.

The three commitments from Woodland Hills make 30 NCAA Division I commitments from the Turtle Creek school since 2001, and the Wolverines currently have the most NFL players of any high school in the country with five. Price also continues a trend of WPIAL players heading to Ohio State, becoming the 11th Ohio State recruit from Western Pennsylvania since 2004.

That includes the Buckeyes' starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette, who was probably one of the most heralded recruits to come out of western Pennsylvania in over a decade three years ago.

BUGANZA NARROWS CHOICES TO SMALL SCHOOLS
Brockway quarterback Derek Buganza, the all-time leading passer in Pennsylvania history with 9,752 career yards, has narrowed his college choices down to a few small schools led by NCAA Division III Case Western in Cleveland.

Buganza’s height, he is listed at 5-foot-10, has probably scared off some of the bigger schools and his other choices include NCAA Division II Mercyhurst located in Erie, Pa., NCAA Division III Washington & Jefferson located in Washington, Pa., and NCAA Division III St. Vincent, located in Latrobe, Pa.

“I’d have to say Case (Western) is my top choice right now,” Buganza said. “But St. Vincent, W&J and Mercyhurst are also up there too.”

Buganza was the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class AA Player of the Week and the Pennsylvania Football News Class AA Co-Player of the Year with South Fayette’s Christian Brumbaugh.