The Associated Press

WARREN - Ohio State wouldn't welcome Maurice Clarett back to appear before NFL scouts, but his former high school will.

Clarett will work out at Warren G. Harding High School next Thursday, said his agent Steve Feldman. The workout will be closed to media.

Feldman knows it will be a critical day for Clarett, who bombed at the NFL combine in late February with times of 4.72 and 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

''He could have slipped completely out of the draft,'' Feldman said. ''He needs a good workout.''

Clarett has changed his trainer and is doing less weightlifting and more cardiovascular work, Feldman said.

Scouts from several teams plan to attend the workout, but Feldman wouldn't say which ones. He also said he wouldn't rule out another workout before the April 23-24 draft.

Ohio State excluded Clarett from participating in ''pro day'' workouts with his former teammates earlier this month. Clarett alienated himself with allegations that administrators and coaches broke NCAA rules by arranging perks for players.

Harding coach Thom McDaniels however was willing to help his former player.

''With all my heart I hope he has a great day,'' McDaniels said. ''In the absence of two years of college competition, it boils down to what he does next Thursday in terms of what NFL scouts know about him and how they think of him going into the draft.''

Clarett was suspended before the 2003 season for lying to NCAA and university investigators and never played another college game.

He then sued the NFL for early admission to the league's draft but, after an early victory in federal court, lost on appeal and in several subsequent appeals.