Alabama has never really been a recruiting hotbed for Ohio State football.
Before adding Mississippi transfer running back Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State’s most recent player from Alabama was walk-on wide receiver Willie Salter in 2001. The Buckeyes’ most recent scholarship player from Alabama dated back even further to defensive tackle Donte Wheat in 1981.
Kaorie Offord said he knew this reality as his son, five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord, had the attention of nearly every college football program in the country out of Parker High School in Birmingham.
“Ohio State doesn’t come to Alabama often and offer kids,” Offord said. “It’s one thing because they think, ‘Oh yeah, they are not going to leave Alabama.’ When (Alabama coach Nick) Saban was there, they for sure thought that all the top guys in Alabama, Saban’s not going to let it out.”
But between Ohio State and Na’eem Offord, something was different. Kaorie said his son wanted to be a part of something special and play his part in history.
And after returning to Columbus for a visit during the first weekend of February, Na’eem Offord took that next step, committing to Ohio State and joining the Buckeyes as the No. 1 cornerback in the 2025 recruiting class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
With the commitment, Ohio State has an opportunity to sign the top two cornerbacks in the 2025 class in Offord and Devin Sanchez for the first time since 2017 where the program signed Jeff Okudah and Shaun Wade.
But a full room, Kaorie Offord said, is what Na’eem wants. He wants to prove he’s the best.
“That’s what I think kind of drew him to that university because it’s about competition, compete, compete,” Kaorie said. “Because when you go there, you’re going to be in a loaded DB room, you’ve got a loaded wide receiver room. So you…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-ohio-state-made-cb-110933344.html
Author : The Columbus Dispatch
Publish date : 2024-02-05 11:09:33
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