Ohio State Recruiting: Buckeyes Miss On Hamlin, But Add Fuller

Urban Meyer wins another recruiting battle.

With National Signing Day just two days away, Urban Meyer is putting the finishing touches on a special 2016 Ohio State recruiting class. Today, two of Meyer’s longest recruiting jobs came to an end, and they played out the way many had anticipated for months.

Damar Hamlin announced his decision to stay home with the Pitt Panthers, giving Pat Narduzzi the true gem of his class. For the Buckeyes, Hamlin’s decision to stay local further prolongs the struggles that Ohio State staffs have had in the Pittsburgh area.

Hamlin took an unofficial visit to Ohio State for the Michigan State game, but the staff struggled to get him on campus for an official visit. It finally happened as part of a huge recruiting weekend on January 15th. The visit, by all accounts, was a success. He took his last official visit to Pitt this past weekend, though, and it put his head and heart to rest.

To some, deciding between Pitt and Ohio State would be seen as not much of a decision at all. But those people probably are not aware of the incredible loyalty kids in that area have shown to their hometown school through the years, more so than possibly any other region in the country.

The commitment gives Pat Narduzzi a big signing in the secondary in back-to-back years. Last year he was able to convince Jordan Whitehead, whom the Buckeyes were in heavily on, to stay home. He played immediately as a true freshman, and the combination of Whitehead and Hamlin could give Narduzzi a new version of the “no-fly zone”.

Not all was lost on this day, though. While the Buckeyes lost out on Hamlin, they received a huge addition

to their class just an hour later.

Jordan Fuller and Ohio State seemed like a destined match early on in his recruitment. But as the cycle went on, the Buckeyes seemed to start to fall out of favor a bit. The relationship between the two took a big hit when Chris Ash, who was the primary recruiter for Fuller, took the job at Rutgers on December 7th.

Fuller took an official visit to Notre Dame on December 12th, and came away from it with the Irish having firmly planted themselves in his top three.

On January 9th, he participated in the US Army All-American Game, where several Ohio State commits were able to get in his ear. Whispers began to creep back in favor of the Buckeyes.

His next visit was to Columbus, on January 15th, and it was part of the same recruiting weekend that had Damar Hamlin on campus. That visit seemed to really turn the tide back in Ohio State’s favor with less than a month left until National Signing Day.

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That was not the last bit of intrigue left in his process, though.

With one last official visit to take, Fuller made the trip to Ann Arbor to check out Michigan. To compound that intrigue, he did so with seemingly every top prospect coming out of the state of New jersey this year. With Jim Harbaugh having so much success in the state already, he had to feel very good about his chances of swaying Fuller to join all of his fellow New Jerseyans in coming to Michigan.

Upon the conclusion to that visit, Fuller immediately set an announcement day for February 1st. That move could have been interpreted as him having been sold on being a Wolverine. Instead, it was affirmation of what seemed to be the popular opinion from day one: he wanted to be a Buckeye.

Fuller checks in at 6’2″, and his frame is exactly what Urban Meyer is looking for in defensive backs. He is listed as an athlete, and played on both sides of the ball in high school. He is definitely going to be a secondary player at Ohio State, but where exactly isn’t a guarantee. He is most comfortable at corner, but his size screams safety.

With the departures of three of last year’s starters in the secondary, and with all of the unproven depth, Fuller can potentially come in and make a name for himself very early.

Regardless, Urban Meyer has gained another great piece in what is shaping up to be a special class. Fuller represented the last target that the staff has been after for the better part of the cycle. Never count out Meyer in terms of surprise in the final hours, and there are also a couple of JUCO players that they have jumped in on lately.

Next: Urban Knows How To Reload

No matter how it finishes, the 2016 Ohio State recruiting class is as strong as there is in the country. And it got even stronger tonight.