Eleven Warriors reported that Dean, a cornerback, has not been medically cleared to play by the Buckeyes. He suffered a torn ACL in 2013 and in 2014 suffered a torn meniscus in the same knee.
Dean enrolled in January at Ohio State and hasn't practiced because of the second knee injury, which happened in the final game of his senior season. Recruits who enroll early do so to get the benefit of spending spring practice with the team.
His high school coach confirmed to Cleveland.com that Dean hadn't been medically cleared and is unhappy with the situation. He also said Dean is looking to transfer and should be cleared to resume football activities in the summer after receiving a second opinion on his knee from Dr. James Andrews.
"It's ridiculous," John Wilkinson told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Wednesday. "It's totally wrong to do this to an 18-year-old kid who should be in high school, who you talked into coming up there early.
"You can't treat people this way."
Dean, from Cocoa, Fla., was the No. 35 CB in the country according to Rivals and the No. 55 prospect in the state of Florida in the class of 2015.
The injury may also make Dean an easy target for Ohio State's roster paring. Counting Dean, Ohio State has 88 scholarship players and needs to be down to the limit of 85 by the summer. Without Dean on scholarship, the Buckeyes just have to worry about two other players.
Wilkinson said Ohio State offered to honor the scholarship, but by doing so, Dean wouldn't count against the limit because he's not medically cleared and therefore why he's looking to transfer. He also said Ohio State did an MRI on his injury less than a week after Dean arrived on campus.
"They're saying they're going to honor his scholarship, but honoring his scholarship doesn't allow him to play the game he loves to play," Wilkinson said. "It's all ridiculous and I don't appreciate them treating my kid this way.
"I'm sticking up for my kid. He was committed to them, but yet they're not fully committed to him."
It's the second time this offseason that Ohio State has been the target of public frustration from a high school coach. After running backs coach Stan Drayton left for the NFL following National Signing Day, the high school coach of Ohio State commit Mike Weber said the running back felt misled by the Buckeyes.
For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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