• Ohio native Jake Butt considering Michigan

  • By Jared Shanker | September 12, 2011 10:54:04 AM PDT
Jake Butt doesn't hide the fact that he's a huge Ohio State fan. The junior linebacker at Pickerington North grew up just 30 minutes from Ohio Stadium and plans to attend a few games this year after already going to the Buckeyes' season-opening win.That doesn't mean one of Ohio's top Class of 2013 prospects is already a Buckeye lean, though. In fact, Butt (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) spent this past weekend in Ann Arbor visiting Michigan for its game against Notre Dame.It was the first night game in Michigan Stadium history and is already the early favorite for game of the rear for 2011. All 114,804 fans -- a record for any college football game ever -- left the Big House speechless after the back-and-forth final quarter, Butt included."If I can only describe it in one word it would be 'wow,'" Butt said. "It was crazy. That's the loudest stadium I've ever heard. I couldn't even have a conversation with my dad next to me."Butt and his family had 45 minutes to spare before Michigan was allowing recruits into the stadium, so they walked around outside the stadium and just took in the scene. Once they were allowed in, Butt went down onto the field for warmups and to see the pregame ceremony celebrating former Michigan Heisman trophy winner Desmond Howard before heading up to his seats at the 50-yard line."It was breathtaking being down on the field," he said.The trip to Ann Arbor almost didn't happen, though. Butt was also invited to Penn State's game against Alabama, which had a pretty wild environment of its own. Beaver Stadium packed 107,846 fans for its "White House" game, though most of them were sent home with another disappointing loss to the Crimson Tide.Butt said he really wanted to be a part of the "White House" game and that it "would be even better playing in front of it," but decided to go to the Michigan-Notre Dame game because Michigan invited him first.Despite being an Ohio State fan, Butt always admired Michigan from afar. He said he has "a lot of respect" for the program and gained even more after visiting this past weekend.So could the die-hard Buckeyes fan see himself in the Maize and Blue?"Oh definitely," Butt said. "... I loved it up there. It was a real neat experience, and seeing the Wolverines come back was just awesome to see."Butt already holds offers from Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Toledo and UCLA. He plans on visiting a few more college games this fall and would like to check out Cincinnati, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin among others.No school leads for Butt right now, who will continue to let the process play itself out."Everything is open right now," he said. "I'm definitely going to wait, hold out, take more visits and really weigh my options."

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