Getty ImagesIt goes without saying that schools have been looking to poach the cream of Oregon’s 2013 recruiting class since Chip Kelly bolted the Ducks for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Monday night, said poaching came to verbal fruition, at least in one case.
While nothing will become official until his Herbie Hancock is applied to a National Letter of Intent Wednesday, Dontre Wilson announced, to not much surprise, that he has verbally committed to Ohio State. The DeSoto, Tex., high schooler had also been considering Texas before ultimately opting for what could be a Percy Harvin-like role with the Buckeyes..
Wilson, a four-star recruit rated by Rivals.com as the No. 6 all-purpose running back in the country, had been verbally committed to the Ducks since last May. That was to Kelly’s Ducks, however.
The 5-10, 174-pound back made it very clear that he was not pleased with Kelly’s departure for the NFL. Specifically, Wilson was “hurt a little” that he and his family visited with Kelly face-to-face the day before he left for the Eagles and no mention was made of the possibility.
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes were one of the first to pounce on the coaching change in Eugene, dispatching coaches to the West Coast to woo a handful of four-star UO commits on the same day Kelly left. While that paid off in the case of Wilson’s flip, it didn’t for another as four-star wide receiver Darren Carrington reaffirmed his verbal to the Ducks last night.
The crown jewel of UO’s 2013 recruiting class, five-star running back Thomas Tyner, remains firmly committed to a UO class that currently rates as the 36th-best in the country and just the seventh-best in the Pac-12.
The Buckeyes, on the other hand, added to what was already one of the top classes in the country. OSU is currently tied with Florida for No. 2 on Rivals‘ team board, one point behind Alabama. OSU is also No. 2 according to 247Sports.com and Scout.com, behind the Tide in the former composite and Big Ten rival Michigan in the latter.
Urban Meyer trolling begins in 5…4…3…
I am not a fan of their OSU or OU but why would anybody sign with OSU and nervous breakdown Meyer over Oregon.. Neither conference is very elite but God playing for a Big 10 team and enduring the dark cold climate of Columbus is the pits. This kid obviously likes teams that will never be serious contenders for NC’s championships.
Michigan fan here, hate Ohio State but Meyer is going to leave the rest of the conference in the dust when it comes to recruiting.
Meyer is a great coach and recruiter. He just gets sick a lot.
My thoughts on Kelly the reason he left was due to thinking he had a empire built good enough to win a NC.After the loss in the NC and the start of playing good enough to beat teams in the PAC (Lane) he couldnt take just being a good coach so went to the Eagles.The pro`s is altogether a different ballgame i dont see him doing much there either.IMO within a couple years we will see him back in the ranks of college football.Kelly you should of stayed at Oregon cause the leap of faith to the Eagles imo was a bad mistake.
Dontre Wilson will never be missed. Obviously doesn’t want to sit on the bench behind Thomas Tyner and others.
rsmeans,
Somebody needs to get you a Farmer’s Almanac. I think you’d find that the September-t0-November climate in Columbus isn’t much different than that in Columbia, Lexington, Nashville or Knoxville.
Besides, he might want to prove to pro talent evaluators that he’s not
a woman(scratch that, even most women can handle the cold) like rsmeans and can play in NFL weather.And boy, as a Browns fan, am I pumped that the Ravens just won the Super Bowl.
AFC North! AFC North! AFC North!
Take that, 49ers fans! We’re better than you!
Signed,
Browns fans……because our favorite team shares the same division with the Ravens and that makes our mediocre team great by extension.
Never fear Brownstown things are looking up for your team!!
Can anyone tell me why Saban/Meyer are so despised in their recruiting methods?…no? ok I’ll explain…cause they outwork other coaches…OSU is gonna OWN the Big10 folks ..
@ BrownsTown:
That was hilarious…b/c it’s true. I think I heard Ravens fans shout “AFC North!, AFC North!” at the Super Bowl. I knew our economy was shifting to socialism but can’t believe certain sports fans are too.
that was pretty funny browns town…Im sure the good people in arkansas and mississippi felt the same way about Alabama, Alabama, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, LSU and Florida when “they” won too.
as for Wilson, he is primarly a scat back, a guy who was a home run hitter at DeSoto high and could take it the distance anytime he touched the football….he would have been great in that Oregon offense, but at Ohio State, Braxton Miller carries the mail up there right now and they have a good stable of backs……wish he would have went to TCU or Texas instead of Ohio St, but he should do well up there.
So Chip kelly was supposed to tell a recruit about his plans before he told U of O or told the players who were actually already playing for him? Just shows the ego and youth of these kids. I think it is a blow for the Ducks, but not a devastating one….losing Tyner would have been far worse, but I admit, i wish we had this kid too.
Irishdodger once again you have no clue. I’m sure it has to do with the fact your school, nd, is too afraid to join a conference.
SEC SEC SEC and ROLL TIDE ROLL.
If this fotball player doesn’t want to come, Oregon wishes him well. We, at Oregon ONLY want the student-athletes who wants to Be A Duck!
2013 FIESTA BOWL CHAMPS!!!!
2012 ROSE BOWL CHAMPS
PAC-12 CHAMPS
PAC-10 CHAMPS
OREGON will be just fine without Kelly and Wilson.
@tombstone
Well stated!
URBAN!!! URBAN!!! URBAN!!!
With a
Would be nice to have an edit feature…
Anyway, what I was going to say was with a recruiting class like last year and what is being built this year – it is going to be a very good run in the Buckeye Nation!!!