Kyle Grantham / Staff Photographer / kg116806@ohiou.edu

Ohio coach Frank Solich (right) laughs as recruiting coordinator/tight end coach Pete Germano (left) talks about the lengths the team goes in order to recruit certain players during the Ohio Football team’s news conference on Signing Day.

No one could blame coach Frank Solich for looking a little jet-lagged yesterday.

Solich and recruiting coordinator Pete Germano criss-crossed the country over the past few months to lock up the most nationally diverse recruiting class in the Bobcat coaches’ tenure. Ohio signed players from eight different states including seven from in-state.

“We’re able to reach out more,” Solich said yesterday at Ohio’s National Signing Day news conference. “We’re being seen nationally and so there is a lot more interest from players across the country.”

The Bobcats have recruited heavily out-of-state in Solich’s previous three seasons. In-state recruits made up just under 50 percent of Ohio’s previous recruiting classes, including 12 of 26 recruits in 2005.

“I wouldn’t call it a direction,” Germano said. “I just think every year is different … I call it more of a fluke.”

Included in this years’ class are 16 prep players and four junior college players.

One of those JUCO recruits is quarterback Franshaw “Boo” Jackson, who earned honorable mention All-American honors while playing for El Camino Junior College in California.

Jackson, who will have two years of eligibility left, threw for 2,235 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. Jackson is rated as a four-star recruit by scout.com and will enroll in time for spring practice.

The other junior college transfers are Jackson’s teammate, safety Hilton Dawson III, defensive tackle Corey Moncrief (Mississippi Delta Community College) and Patrick Tafua (Golden West College)

“(It’s) a few more than I normally recruit,” Solich said. “But it played out very well for us … in terms of fielding some needs and then also just being able to identify some guys that we think can come in and contribute right away.”Germano and Solich found talented players in areas most coaches don’t even think about going.

Outside linebacker Alphonso Lewis Jr., (No. 138 OLB according to ESPN.com) defensive end Neal Huynh and cornerback Tyler Futrell all hail from Altoona Area High School in Altoona, Penn., which is about two and a half hours outside Pittsburgh.

“It is in the middle of nowhere,” Germano said. “We were on some good kids and we didn’t tell any one about (them) and they are really, really good football players … They’ve got some great history there, some great NFL players came from Altoona.

I couldn’t name one right now, but I know there’s some.”Wide receiver Bakari Bussey (No. 112 WR according to ESPN.com) and Offensive guard Matt Britain (No. 73 OG according to ESPN.com) are the Bobcats’ highest rated prep players.

Bussey, whose dad played at Miami and was a former Cincinnati Bengals defensive back, earned First-Team All-Greater Miami Conference honors. He caught 27 passes for 408 yards and six touchdowns for Lakota West High School as a senior.

Britain was named the Cobb County (Ga.) Offensive Lineman of the Year, while helping his team to a Region 5A Championship. He posted 40 pancake blocks as a senior.

“We think it’s a solid class,” Germano said. “It can be comparable to the other three…I think they are all going to be very good football players and they address our needs.”