Ohio State to participate in satellite camp with Ga. high school

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer told Yahoo’s Pat Forde last year that satellite camps “should be outlawed,” but it wouldn’t stop him from participating.

“If it helps us, we’ll do it,” Meyer said.

He wasn’t lying.

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Todd Wofford, the head coach at Central Gwinnett High School in suburban Atlanta, announced Thursday night that Meyer and the Ohio State staff will be special guests at a camp in June.

“It’s a good thing for Gwinnett County and a chance to show this is a place that’s kind of different and kind of special,” Wofford told SECCountry.com. “I think it’s a good opportunity for the kids and it creates excitement when you got people from up north coming down south. It creates a buzz for a lot of these kids who can’t get up to campuses up there. It gives them a chance to get in front of those colleges.”

Satellite camps have been a controversial subject in the past few offseasons, especially with Michigan’s nine-camp tour across seven states last summer. The SEC and ACC are attempting to ban the practice, and the NCAA will reportedly vote on their proposal next week.

With these camps, Big Ten schools aim to make their programs more accessible to these talent rich southern areas. As Wofford mentioned, some of these kids may not be able to make a trip and visit a school like Michigan or Ohio State, so the coaching staffs are putting forth the effort to come to them. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan already has four camps scheduled for June.

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The NCAA prohibits programs from hosting camps more than 50 miles from their own campus, but a loophole allows them to participate as guest coaches, as long as another school technically hosts the camp. This works with lower level college programs, too. Penn State’s staff participated in camps at Georgia State and Stetson University (in Deland, Fla.) back in 2014, raising the ire of some SEC coaches.

The SEC formerly banned the practice, but lifted its ban until a national ban is enacted.

For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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