Published Oct 13, 2019
Buckeyes land four-star defensive back Ryan Watts
Marc Givler  •  DottingTheEyes
Recruiting Analyst
Twitter
@MarcGivlerBG

Ohio State only has a couple of remaining needs in the 2020 recruiting class but the Buckeyes filled one of those needs on Sunday with the pledge of four-star Little Elm (Texas) defensive back Ryan Watts. A top priority for the Buckeyes over the past few months, Watts gives Ohio State a much needed addition at cornerback in the 2020 class joining fellow four-stars Lejond Cavazos and Clark Phillips.


The former Oklahoma pledge recently decommitted from the Sooners following an official visit to Ohio State. All signs had been pointing to Columbus recently for Watts, especially after upcoming visits to Penn State and Texas A&M were cancelled.

"It was really hard for me to leave OU, (Oklahoma) just felt like a good move, but in all Ohio State felt like an even better situation for me," Watts told BuckeyeGrove.com.

Ohio State defensive backs coach an co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was the driving force in the Buckeyes ability to pry away the four-star cornerback, a process that took several months.

"If it wasn’t for Ohio State, I’d be at Oklahoma," Watts explained. "But it’s just the relationship I built with coach Hafley. I feel like I can really trust him and just the opportunity to play early at such a big time DB guru school like Ohio State. I couldn’t pass up on that."

Watts had also previously made an unofficial visit to Ohio State over the summer and emerged from the summer as a leading candidate at the cornerback position for the Buckeyes.

BuckeyeGrove.com will have more on the Watts commitment throughout the evening.