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Listening to the recruiting pitch from new Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer over the past month and making an official visit to Columbus, Ohio, last weekend were more than enough for Windsor High School All-American offensive lineman Joey O'Connor.
When the offer of a full scholarship to Ohio State was put on the table by Meyer, it didn't take long for the Windsor four-star recruit to accept.
O'Connor, 17, returned from his official recruiting visit from Ohio State and called Meyer on Monday night to accept his offer.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior verbally committed to become a Buckeye and play in the Big Ten Conference. O'Connor, an offensive tackle at Windsor who helped the Wizards win a Class 3A state football title last month, said he'll play guard or center at Ohio State.
“I asked him if the offer still stands and he said, ‘Of course, the offer still stands.' I said, ‘Well, I'd like to verbally commit to The Ohio State University,' ” O'Connor said of his phone conversation with Meyer on Monday night. “He was fired up and he can't wait for me to get out there and start in the new program. I love the campus. I love the players. I feel really good about my decision.”
O'Connor, who verbally committed to Penn State in June 2011 but decommitted from the university on Nov. 10, 2011, following the child sex-abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno, narrowed his five schools down to Ohio State, Cal, Iowa, TCU and Boise State.
O'Connor's parents — Ann and Joe O'Connor — also visited Ohio State with their son. Joe O'Connor said he could tell right away how Meyer puts family first. He also said the last five months have been quite a ride.
“If anybody was going to tell me in September that I would meet Joe Paterno, (have Windsor) win a state championship and then meet Urban Meyer in the same time period you'd have to pinch me, knock me down and wake me up,” O'Connor's father said.
O'Connor told Windsor Now last month that he planned to take official visits to Cal and maybe another school following his visit to Ohio State, but Meyer's personality, to go along with the two national titles that he won as head coach at Florida and a 104-23 record over 10 seasons with Bowling Green, Utah and Florida, obviously swayed O'Connor to forgo the other visits. O'Connor became the 21st recruit to verbally commit to Ohio State.
“All my wheels were turning thinking should I go visit Iowa or should I go visit Cal? I was sitting at home (Monday) with my mom and the rest of my family and we're thinking that this is the best it's going to get,” “O'Connor said. “My ultimate goal is to win a national championship, and I feel like that's the best chance I'm going to have at that school.”
As high school prospects go, O'Connor was arguably the most high recruited high school football player ever to come out of Weld County. Proof of that is O'Connor's national rankings by the top recruiting Web sites. O'Connor is rated the No. 105th top prospect in the ESPNU top-150 list, and No. 87 in the country by Rivals.com. He's ranked as the second best player in the Colorado by the Denver Post behind Mullen quarterback Cyler Miles, who verbally committed to the Washington Huskies. O'Connor also played in the 2012 Under Armour All-America High School Football Game televised on ESPN on Jan. 5 in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Denver Post reported that O'Connor is believed to be the first Colorado football player to sign with Ohio State since Montbello's Chris Sanders signed in the early 1990s.
Windsor athletic director Mark Kanagy, an Ohio native and a lifelong Ohio State football fan, is happy for O'Connor, who plans to major in criminology on a campus with more than 55,000 students, about three times the size of Windsor.
“I went to Ohio University, but I've always been a Buckeyes fan. I think I've got pictures of me in the crib wearing Ohio State stuff, so I've never known anything different,” Kanagy said. “I'm excited to know that for the next few years that I'll know somebody on the team and have somebody to root for. I'm looking forward to being able to watch No. 60 line up in scarlet and grey. I think that will be cool. I would have been happy for him if it would have been anywhere. I'm just glad that he found a place that he feels good about.”
Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman visited O'Connor at Windsor High School a few weeks ago, and he is scheduled to visit O'Connor at his home in Galeton on Thursday. Meyer's first phone call to O'Connor came on Dec. 7.
“He's a genuine person. He cares a lot about his players,” O'Connor said of Meyer. “He is very family oriented. He wants to win and he is very competitive, but at the end of the day his family is the most important thing to him.”
Winning is also important to Meyer.
“His goal is to win a national championship, and he doesn't want to settle for a Gator Bowl,” O'Connor said. “He wants to be playing for the crystal ball and do everything in his power to win a national championship.”
A one-year bowl ban and probation, the resignation of head coach Jim Tressel and the loss of scholarships imposed by the NCAA on the Ohio State football program when players sold memorabilia in exchange for cash and tattoos doesn't concern O'Connor anymore.
“It's one year. In that one year they're going to be preparing and doing everything they can so we're prepared and competing for a national championship,” O'Connor said.
O'Connor's commitment to Ohio State won't become official until he signs a binding letter of intent on national signing day Feb. 1.
When the offer of a full scholarship to Ohio State was put on the table by Meyer, it didn't take long for the Windsor four-star recruit to accept.
O'Connor, 17, returned from his official recruiting visit from Ohio State and called Meyer on Monday night to accept his offer.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior verbally committed to become a Buckeye and play in the Big Ten Conference. O'Connor, an offensive tackle at Windsor who helped the Wizards win a Class 3A state football title last month, said he'll play guard or center at Ohio State.
“I asked him if the offer still stands and he said, ‘Of course, the offer still stands.' I said, ‘Well, I'd like to verbally commit to The Ohio State University,' ” O'Connor said of his phone conversation with Meyer on Monday night. “He was fired up and he can't wait for me to get out there and start in the new program. I love the campus. I love the players. I feel really good about my decision.”
O'Connor, who verbally committed to Penn State in June 2011 but decommitted from the university on Nov. 10, 2011, following the child sex-abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno, narrowed his five schools down to Ohio State, Cal, Iowa, TCU and Boise State.
O'Connor's parents — Ann and Joe O'Connor — also visited Ohio State with their son. Joe O'Connor said he could tell right away how Meyer puts family first. He also said the last five months have been quite a ride.
“If anybody was going to tell me in September that I would meet Joe Paterno, (have Windsor) win a state championship and then meet Urban Meyer in the same time period you'd have to pinch me, knock me down and wake me up,” O'Connor's father said.
O'Connor told Windsor Now last month that he planned to take official visits to Cal and maybe another school following his visit to Ohio State, but Meyer's personality, to go along with the two national titles that he won as head coach at Florida and a 104-23 record over 10 seasons with Bowling Green, Utah and Florida, obviously swayed O'Connor to forgo the other visits. O'Connor became the 21st recruit to verbally commit to Ohio State.
“All my wheels were turning thinking should I go visit Iowa or should I go visit Cal? I was sitting at home (Monday) with my mom and the rest of my family and we're thinking that this is the best it's going to get,” “O'Connor said. “My ultimate goal is to win a national championship, and I feel like that's the best chance I'm going to have at that school.”
As high school prospects go, O'Connor was arguably the most high recruited high school football player ever to come out of Weld County. Proof of that is O'Connor's national rankings by the top recruiting Web sites. O'Connor is rated the No. 105th top prospect in the ESPNU top-150 list, and No. 87 in the country by Rivals.com. He's ranked as the second best player in the Colorado by the Denver Post behind Mullen quarterback Cyler Miles, who verbally committed to the Washington Huskies. O'Connor also played in the 2012 Under Armour All-America High School Football Game televised on ESPN on Jan. 5 in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Denver Post reported that O'Connor is believed to be the first Colorado football player to sign with Ohio State since Montbello's Chris Sanders signed in the early 1990s.
Windsor athletic director Mark Kanagy, an Ohio native and a lifelong Ohio State football fan, is happy for O'Connor, who plans to major in criminology on a campus with more than 55,000 students, about three times the size of Windsor.
“I went to Ohio University, but I've always been a Buckeyes fan. I think I've got pictures of me in the crib wearing Ohio State stuff, so I've never known anything different,” Kanagy said. “I'm excited to know that for the next few years that I'll know somebody on the team and have somebody to root for. I'm looking forward to being able to watch No. 60 line up in scarlet and grey. I think that will be cool. I would have been happy for him if it would have been anywhere. I'm just glad that he found a place that he feels good about.”
Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman visited O'Connor at Windsor High School a few weeks ago, and he is scheduled to visit O'Connor at his home in Galeton on Thursday. Meyer's first phone call to O'Connor came on Dec. 7.
“He's a genuine person. He cares a lot about his players,” O'Connor said of Meyer. “He is very family oriented. He wants to win and he is very competitive, but at the end of the day his family is the most important thing to him.”
Winning is also important to Meyer.
“His goal is to win a national championship, and he doesn't want to settle for a Gator Bowl,” O'Connor said. “He wants to be playing for the crystal ball and do everything in his power to win a national championship.”
A one-year bowl ban and probation, the resignation of head coach Jim Tressel and the loss of scholarships imposed by the NCAA on the Ohio State football program when players sold memorabilia in exchange for cash and tattoos doesn't concern O'Connor anymore.
“It's one year. In that one year they're going to be preparing and doing everything they can so we're prepared and competing for a national championship,” O'Connor said.
O'Connor's commitment to Ohio State won't become official until he signs a binding letter of intent on national signing day Feb. 1.
