Possible ramifications of Watt’s pledge to the Irish
I generally don’t give a kid’s pledge elsewhere anything more than a passing comment in the del.icio.us feed, but this one deserves some more consideration. Chris Watt gave his verbal to the Irish today, in what had become one of the worst kept secrets in Midwest recruiting. In the short term, the pledge doesn’t come as a surprise at all as Watt was giving off Notre Dame vibes for a while. With a less myopic lens, however, it comes as some surprise since I thought he would be a Buckeye in April. Oh well. Things change.
But Watt’s decision might have some important repercussions for Ohio State recruiting going forward. If the Buckeyes are dead set on taking 5 linemen, and presuming that Marcus Hall will indeed be one of those five as most everyone involved feels, the Buckeyes should start recruiting John Martinez in earnest. Martinez — a guard prospect from Salt Lake City, Utah — does have an offer from the Buckeyes and was in Columbus for the Senior Advanced Camp on June 20. So far, he’s offered nothing but positive comments about the Buckeyes, suggesting that his final 3 includes UCLA, USC and Ohio State1. I couldn’t honestly tell you which way he is leaning, however.
The other ongoing story that may be a direct consequence of Watt’s decision regards Vladimir Emilien. As of a week ago, “the Hitman” from Plantation HS in Lauderhill, FL was on the outside looking in. He had dropped plans to visit Ohio State during the summer, citing the commitment of 6 defensive backs in the class already. Indeed, I thought Sam Longo took his scholarship. Now, from what I understand, Emilien is definitely back in the picture. This may be because of Watt, and that if Longo took Emilien’s scholarship, Emilien in turn took Watt’s scholarship. It may also be a result of recent developments with Eugene Clifford, though my understanding is that Clifford’s departure was taken as granted and that his scholarship was always “open”, regardless of his most recent run-in. If what I’m reading and have been told is true, Emilien is not only back in the Buckeyes’ picture, but possibly back to his original timeline of a pre-season decision. Whether or not that decision is in the Buckeyes’ favor is beyond my knowledge at the moment.
Long story short, the Buckeyes seem set on finishing recruiting before the opener against Youngstown State. Minus the guys the staff have put the “DO WANT” tag on and who they will definitely have to wait for2, the Buckeyes’ staff doesn’t seem to care right now who gets what’s left (be it Martinez or Emilien or someone like Hagemen or Ezell). Indeed, there really is no glaring weakness in the 2009 class at the moment.
Martinez does not have an offer according to Bucknuts…
hmm, that appears to be the word now, according to Rivals. When I wrote this, my understanding was Martinez had an offer.