Donovan Green, who has over 30 offers on the table, discusses his Ohio State virtual visit and the message he received from the staff
Dickinson (Tx.) rising junior Donovan Green saw his recruitment take off in 2020.
This year alone, Green has hauled in offers from over two dozen college football programs. Over the past five weeks, Green was given the green light by a handful of schools, with one of them being Ohio State.
Shortly after the staff dished out an offer to him, Green wound up conducting a virtual visit with the Buckeyes in order to get a feel for the campus and interact with the coaches.
For Green, the highlight of last month's visit was learning about what Ohio State could provide for him on the field as well as in the classroom.
"They took me through their program of how they get their athletes to graduate and how they get through having to go through football and going to school," Green said of how everything went. "I met a whole bunch of people who work with them and they were going through how they can help me further my life after football if I don't make it to the league.
"If I do make it to the league, I still have to do something after I get through with that. So, they were going through all that and how they prepare for my education."
Although nothing can quite exactly match the atmosphere of an on-campus visit, Ryan Day and company are attempting to replicate that experience as much as possible.
For Green, that included him being able to chat with most of the staff, such as tight ends coach Kevin Wilson and Day himself.
"I talked to the head coach, I talked with coach Wilson, the strength coordinator. All those people," Green said. "[Their pitch is] they have a good history with getting people to the league and being able to not only get people to the league, but have people get to the league and stay there because of how they work and practice."
Green has not yet physically visited Ohio State thus far, but made it a point to note his admiration for the work ethic of their players and the intensity with which they practice.
There are also several former Buckeye tight ends who are currently active in the NFL, which has caught Green's attention.
"They always practice hard, they never take any plays off because they always have breaks and they're always being used right," Green said of the team. "They've just always been known for having a high success rate and they know how to use tight ends, too. It's just another great place to go."
With nearly three dozen offers to consider and well over a year left until he needs to sign his Letter of Intent, Green is not yet ready to release a list of his finalists.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder did mention, however, that the Buckeyes are a program he is going to give a strong look at.
"I don't really have any top schools right now," Green said of his recruiting process. "But, of course, [Ohio State] is one of the schools that I'm looking at right now."
As a sophomore, Green recorded 34 catches for 615 yards and five touchdowns as a member of the Dickinson Gators.
Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.