Ruckert excited to be a Buckeye
It took just a few days for four-star tight end Jeremy Ruckert to get to Columbus after his commitment to Ohio State last week. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound prospect issued his verbal commitment to Ohio State on July 17th and then promptly informed BuckeyeGrove.com that he would make his way to Columbus on the 21st for Friday Night Lights.
Ruckert didn't work out at the event, instead focusing his energy on helping to recruit some of the Buckeyes' uncommitted targets.
"I got to put my recruiting hat on and it was a lot of fun," said Ruckert after the camp. "I had a great time and I'm excited to make this my home."
Ruckert was working on the usual suspects as the Buckeyes are still chasing some of the nation's elite prospects.
"I was talking a lot to Blue Smith, Jackson Carman, Micah (Parsons) all of those guys," he explained. "I was also talking to Jayson Oweh. We are really trying to get those guys to make the move. I did it last week and I'm really comfortable with being here for the next four years."
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The Rivals250 tight end got a chance to see how things would feel as a committed prospect and as it turns out, it wasn't much different from when he was uncommitted.
"I was kind of surprised," he explained. "I thought the coaches would kind of lay off of me, not try to recruit me as hard. But they didn't leave me alone or anything, they wanted to make sure that I was having a great time and that my family was having a great time. It was an awesome time here."
A player of Ruckert's caliber always needs to be recruited until Signing Day as other schools are not going to give up the chase. But the Buckeyes have nothing to worry about according to the athletic pass-catcher.
"There's a couple of schools that are still texting me and stuff like that," he said. "But I'm solidly committed. There's a reason that I made this choice, it's the best place to build me up for after football. I'm excited to be a Buckeye and I can't wait to get to know Buckeye Nation even better."
Ultimately it was the tried and true comfort and relationships that separated the Buckeyes from the rest of the pack.
"The schools that were my finalists, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Michigan, they were all kind of similar," he said. "They were all up North, all play smashmouth football and have great tradition. But what really put (Ohio State) ahead was how they dealt with my family. They always went out of their way to make sure that I was doing my best, getting good grades, and you could really tell that they cared about my family and where I came from. They really care about me as a person, not just a football player."