Clark Phillips commits to Ohio State
Ohio State received a great kick start to its huge recruiting weekend on Friday afternoon, landing the pledge of La Habra (Cali.) cornerback Clark Phillips. The four-star prospect chose the Buckeyes over Notre Dame, Cal, and UCLA, and many more, becoming commitment No. 13 for Ohio State in the 2020 recruiting class.
Phillips was eager and happy to provide the early fireworks for the Buckeyes who are hoping for more big news coming out of a weekend with more than 15 official visitors on campus.
"There's a lot of good guys out there that we're trying to get signed this weekend," Phillips stated. "I'm excited to get things started."
Phillips has known for a little while that he wanted to commit to Ohio State. An unofficial visit in the spring catapulted the Buckeyes into the driver's seat for the Rivals100 talent.
"When I took the (unofficial visit in the spring) it was just a surreal feeling," explained Phillips. "But once the sugar high wore off and everything faded away, I still had a great picture of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. Then in terms of having a great relationship with the staff and players, it just felt like home to me."
Pulling a player the caliber of Phillips across the country can't be overstated and it's a huge recruiting win for new defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
"Coach Hafley was like the first guy to come through my school (in the off-season)," he explained. "With him recruiting me, it made me feel really comfortable with Ohio State. Both he and coach Day did a great job, I'd say."
Phillips will hop on a plane to Columbus now and take his official visit where he plans to do some recruiting. The Buckeyes will have another Rivals100 Californian on campus this weekend and Phillips has him in his sights.
"I'm working on a couple of guys already," he said. "Kourt Williams is a good friend of mine so I'm working on him and trying to just build a class now. We want to dominate on the field, so that's our plan."
Phillips is the second cornerback commitment in the class for the Buckeyes joining four-star IMG Academy (FL) standout Lejond Cavazos. The two are working to add a few more guys to the back seven in this class and already have a blueprint for how they want to play when they make it to Columbus.
"We're trying to build something special, kind of like the Seattle Seahawks defense," Phillips continued. "With Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Richard Sherman, we're trying to build something like that. We're going to be a bunch of dogs out there and we're going to recruit more guys and it's only going to get better."
Phillips is the No. 59 player in the nation according to Rivals.com, the No. 4 cornerback prospect nationally, and the No. 8 prospect in the state of California.