Dotting the 'Eyes: Doug Nester visits Virginia Tech, Ohio State waiting on Jameson Williams
Stay in touch or be left out because Ohio State recruiting is a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week obsession. What’s the latest news as the Buckeyes build for the future? Get that and more Sunday through Thursday on Lettermen Row, including tonight’s updates on Ohio State commitment Doug Nester and top targets Jameson Williams and Wandale Robinson.
Ohio State commit Doug Nester visits Virginia Tech
Throughout the last month and a half, there’s been a number of discussions about Ohio State and its commitments and the strength of those pledges.
That makes sense, of course, as there’s been a proverbial gray cloud over the Scarlet and Gray since the start of August. Despite the threatening skies, the Buckeyes have done a remarkable job keeping themselves in a generally positive place with that group of verbals.
Yes, there’s been a little concern about Florida defensive back Jordan Battle, but there’s a time and a place for the Buckeyes to solidify that recruitment once again when he visits on Oct. 13. Other than that, there have been very few issues or instances of committed players being anywhere else. This weekend, though, Ohio State’s first 2019 commitment, West Virginia’s Doug Nester, showed up at Virginia Tech and watched the Hokies take on William and Mary.
Virginia Tech was the runner-up to Ohio State in Nester’s recruitment, so that’s notable. But it’s not something that is worth lamenting too much for the Buckeyes. After speaking to a few different sources close to Ohio State, there’s not any concern at this point about the status of the country’s second-ranked offensive guard.
“He was great at our game last week,” one source shared with Lettermen Row about Nester’s visit with the Buckeyes for the season opener.
Recruiting is never over, even when it feels really over.
Decision coming for Ohio State target Jameson Williams?
We could be drawing near a decision from Cardinal Ritter Prep (St. Louis, Mo.) wide receiver Jameson Williams. At least that’s what he hinted at via Twitter on Sunday night.
think i’m coming real close to a decision.. 🙂
— jamo (@bigsgjamo) September 9, 2018
Williams, the country’s No. 24-ranked wide receiver, has been the top target at the position for Ohio State since it landed 5-star wideout Garrett Wilson in April. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound speedster officially visited the Buckeyes in June, and he has been to Oregon, Nebraska and Alabama since. He has three official visits scheduled: Nebraska on Sept. 22, Oregon on Sept. 29 and an Oct. 13 official visit scheduled with Alabama. But the scuttlebutt is that a decision could come sooner than that, and if it does, that’s likely good news for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State has been a consistent in Williams’ recruitment for months, despite the transition at wide receivers coach for the program.
Maybe a commitment could happen the weekend Urban Meyer returns to the sidelines of Ohio Stadium? We’ll see if Williams takes the official visits as planned.
Wandale Robinson visited Ohio State unofficially last weekend. (Birm/Lettermen Row)
Positives in pursuit of Wandale Robinson, Zach Harrison?
It’s rarely good news for Ohio State when the rivals in Ann Arbor earn a few wins on the recruiting trail, but two recent Wolverines commitments could potentially have positive impacts on two of the Buckeyes biggest remaining 2019 targets.
On Sunday night, Michigan flipped American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 4-star defensive end Mike Morris from Florida State. He’s the country’s 22nd-ranked strongside defensive end and the fourth defensive lineman committed to the Wolverines in the Class of 2019. While Zach Harrison certainly isn’t going to be shying away from any competition and is likely not basing his decision on depth charts at all, it still adds some intrigue to his decision. Ultimately, it’s one of the factors in nearly everyone’s choice. That could help Ohio State and Penn State.
On Monday afternoon, the Wolverines added slot receiver Giles Jackson to their commitment list. Jackson, 5-foot-8 and 175-pounds, is from Oakley (Calif.) Freedom High School, and many people believe Michigan was facing an either/or decision between Jackson and Frankfort (Ky.) Western Hills 4-star Wandale Robinson. Robinson took an official visit to Michigan in June, and though there’s no public elimination of the Wolverines likely to be made, it seems likely that Michigan may no longer be the threat to land him as they were.
That would be good news for Alabama, Kentucky, Purdue and Ohio State, where he unofficially visited last weekend and where he’ll almost certainly make an official visit within the next month.
Harry Miller will return to Ohio State in two weeks
When Urban Meyer returns to the field at Ohio State, he’ll be greeted by 105,00-plus fans for the 3:30 p.m. kickoff against Tulane.
He’ll also have the Buckeyes center of the future there to greet him.
We’ll be there!! #GoBucks @markpantoni https://t.co/quTkYgBQRe
— Kristina Miller (@KschilbMiller) September 10, 2018
Harry Miller and his mother will be making the trek north to Columbus to welcome back Meyer. He’ll likely be joined by at least a handful of fellow Ohio State commits. We’ll keep working on getting those names to you in the next two weeks.
