HIGH SCHOOLS
Tanski will try Bowling Green
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Tim Warsinskey, Plain Dealer Reporter

High school accolades and success mean nothing in the harsh world of college recruiting.

Exhibit A: Mentor quarterback Bart Tanski.

Tanski said Tuesday -- the day before National Signing Day -- his plan is to walk on at Bowling Green without a scholarship. Coaches told him he can try to earn a scholarship after he reports with the rest of the recruits.

Tanski is the first Ohio Mr. Football winner who was not highly recruited by Division I colleges, none of whom offered him a scholarship.

Mr. Football is awarded annually to the top high school player in the state, not the top college prospect. The distinction in his case is about three inches and 30 pounds, and a scholarship that can be worth more than $100,000.

Tanski is 6-2 and 190 pounds, and he led Mentor to consecutive Division I state runner-up finishes. But colleges like bigger quarterbacks. That point was driven home this week when Nordonia quarterback Aaron Pankratz accepted a scholarship to Bowling Green. Pankratz is 6-5, 225.

"It was kind of tough because you hear every day about people getting scholarships and you're waiting," Tanski said. "But I got through it and I'm happy that it's over now."

Tanski, who plans to study engineering and technology, received scholarship offers from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) and Division II schools such as Central Connecticut, Mercyhurst, Findlay, Ashland and Lake Erie. He said he more seriously considered Dayton and Miami of Ohio, neither of which offered scholarships.

Tanski said turning down those scholarships wasn't easy, but he is eager to prove the doubters wrong.

"It's motivation. I think I can play at that level and I want to show them," he said.

He also said he felt very comfortable at Bowling Green, which runs a spread offense nearly identical to Mentor's offense.