Back on June 29th, St. Thomas Aquinas 4-star defensive back Jordan Battle committed to Ohio State and head coach Urban Meyer, feeling confident that his future was now secure.
But, just when he thought his recruitment was over, Battle’s phone has now been ringing off the hook for the past week, and mostly from college coaches that want to know if he’s still interested in their programs. Is it safe to say he’s never been more recruited?
“(Laughs) Oh yes,” Battle said.
And the reason? Last week, Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave after reports surfaced that he allegedly knew about domestic violence accusations against former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith back in 2015, kept Smith on staff for 3 years after, then lied about the extent of his knowledge of the incident when publicly questioned by the press.
The story has caused a media frenzy in the college football world and the young Battle isn’t quite sure what to make of it all just yet. He is remaining committed to the program for now, but will wait out the investigation process to see if Meyer is retained by the university or not.
“Well, I’m just seeing how everything plays out right now, hoping for the best with coach Meyer,” Battle said. “Just been talking to coach (Taver) Johnson lately, he tells me to hang in there. So, I’m hanging in there with it. My mom wasn’t happy, but she’s also trying to hang in there with Ohio State and hope for the best.”
It was essentially his relationship with Meyer that led to Battle’s commitment to OSU back in June. The Buckeyes’ head coach built a strong connection with the STA star and Battle elaborated on his bond with Meyer.
“He was a big reason why I committed to Ohio State,” Battle said on Meyer. “He’s a good guy and used to text me every day until this situation happened. He can’t contact anybody right now.”
The issues at Ohio State have opened the door a bit for other programs, and one of the interested parties has been Mark Richt and the Miami Hurricanes. UM was previously in Battle’s top 2 before he ending up choosing Ohio State, and the 6’1” 187 pound safety talked about where things stand with Miami right now.
“Yeah, I’m hearing from them a lot,” Battle said on UM. “Coach Banda and coach (Mark) Richt, they are both great guys. [Richt] tells me to just stay in contact with him and not to forget about him. He sent me a message yesterday and Monday too. Coach Banda is a cool guy, he calls me up and we’ll talk. I’m feeling like a priority.”
Right now, all of college football recruiting is in an NCAA-mandated dead period, which means coaches can use electronic communications to speak with a prospect, but cannot have face-to-face or in-person contact with recruits. That’s why Battle won’t be able to take a visit to Miami in the near future, but he plans to make some UM visits during the season for games.
“I’ll be going there for some games,” Battle said on Miami. “My dad’s always loved UM.”
However, when Battle makes those visits, none of them will be an official visit: both the Hurricanes and Buckeyes used up their one official visit back in June. While Battle has no OV’s currently planned, he’s discussing setting some up in the future with a few other programs.
“I talk with coach (Corey) Raymond from LSU,” Battle said. “Oklahoma and Florida would be the other ones.”
Even still, it seems all of those programs will chasing the Canes and Buckeyes for Battle’s signature.
“First it’s Ohio State, then Miami, then everybody else,” Battle said on his pecking order.
So, what would Miami have to do to flip his commitment from Ohio State?
“They pretty much don’t have to do anything else, just keep doing what they’re doing,” Battle said. “They talk to me a lot, communicate with me a lot. They stay in touch and always check up on me.”
As a rising senior on a loaded STA defense in 2018, Battle is ready to put part of the OSU distraction behind him and focus on winning states during his final season in high school.
“We looking good, we have a lot of depth: linebackers and DB’s,” Battle said on the STA defense. “We got (Anthony) Solomon, Avery (Huff), Jahmar (Brown). We’re deep. (Jason) Munoz too, he’s a beast and got bigger this year. Great guy and great player.”
Solomon, Huff, and Munoz are all Miami commits, and while Battle says they’ve all been in his ear trying to talk up the Canes, it’s Solomon that leads the effort.
“It’s a great pipeline to be honest,” Battle said on the STA and Miami connection. “They all talk to me a little bit, mostly Solomon does. He’s a big recruiter, an energetic guy. He’s cool.”
At the end of the day, Battle has a lot to think over, and a final decision won’t come easy.
“I’d say I’ll make a final decision whenever this situation is over with coach Meyer,” Battle said.
And what happens if Meyer is no longer with Ohio State?
“There may be a change [in commitment status],” Battle said. “Unless somebody else really good comes in, but I don’t think anybody can come in as good as coach Meyer.”
But, just when he thought his recruitment was over, Battle’s phone has now been ringing off the hook for the past week, and mostly from college coaches that want to know if he’s still interested in their programs. Is it safe to say he’s never been more recruited?
“(Laughs) Oh yes,” Battle said.
And the reason? Last week, Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave after reports surfaced that he allegedly knew about domestic violence accusations against former Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith back in 2015, kept Smith on staff for 3 years after, then lied about the extent of his knowledge of the incident when publicly questioned by the press.
The story has caused a media frenzy in the college football world and the young Battle isn’t quite sure what to make of it all just yet. He is remaining committed to the program for now, but will wait out the investigation process to see if Meyer is retained by the university or not.
“Well, I’m just seeing how everything plays out right now, hoping for the best with coach Meyer,” Battle said. “Just been talking to coach (Taver) Johnson lately, he tells me to hang in there. So, I’m hanging in there with it. My mom wasn’t happy, but she’s also trying to hang in there with Ohio State and hope for the best.”
It was essentially his relationship with Meyer that led to Battle’s commitment to OSU back in June. The Buckeyes’ head coach built a strong connection with the STA star and Battle elaborated on his bond with Meyer.
“He was a big reason why I committed to Ohio State,” Battle said on Meyer. “He’s a good guy and used to text me every day until this situation happened. He can’t contact anybody right now.”
The issues at Ohio State have opened the door a bit for other programs, and one of the interested parties has been Mark Richt and the Miami Hurricanes. UM was previously in Battle’s top 2 before he ending up choosing Ohio State, and the 6’1” 187 pound safety talked about where things stand with Miami right now.
“Yeah, I’m hearing from them a lot,” Battle said on UM. “Coach Banda and coach (Mark) Richt, they are both great guys. [Richt] tells me to just stay in contact with him and not to forget about him. He sent me a message yesterday and Monday too. Coach Banda is a cool guy, he calls me up and we’ll talk. I’m feeling like a priority.”
Right now, all of college football recruiting is in an NCAA-mandated dead period, which means coaches can use electronic communications to speak with a prospect, but cannot have face-to-face or in-person contact with recruits. That’s why Battle won’t be able to take a visit to Miami in the near future, but he plans to make some UM visits during the season for games.
“I’ll be going there for some games,” Battle said on Miami. “My dad’s always loved UM.”
However, when Battle makes those visits, none of them will be an official visit: both the Hurricanes and Buckeyes used up their one official visit back in June. While Battle has no OV’s currently planned, he’s discussing setting some up in the future with a few other programs.
“I talk with coach (Corey) Raymond from LSU,” Battle said. “Oklahoma and Florida would be the other ones.”
Even still, it seems all of those programs will chasing the Canes and Buckeyes for Battle’s signature.
“First it’s Ohio State, then Miami, then everybody else,” Battle said on his pecking order.
So, what would Miami have to do to flip his commitment from Ohio State?
“They pretty much don’t have to do anything else, just keep doing what they’re doing,” Battle said. “They talk to me a lot, communicate with me a lot. They stay in touch and always check up on me.”
As a rising senior on a loaded STA defense in 2018, Battle is ready to put part of the OSU distraction behind him and focus on winning states during his final season in high school.
“We looking good, we have a lot of depth: linebackers and DB’s,” Battle said on the STA defense. “We got (Anthony) Solomon, Avery (Huff), Jahmar (Brown). We’re deep. (Jason) Munoz too, he’s a beast and got bigger this year. Great guy and great player.”
Solomon, Huff, and Munoz are all Miami commits, and while Battle says they’ve all been in his ear trying to talk up the Canes, it’s Solomon that leads the effort.
“It’s a great pipeline to be honest,” Battle said on the STA and Miami connection. “They all talk to me a little bit, mostly Solomon does. He’s a big recruiter, an energetic guy. He’s cool.”
At the end of the day, Battle has a lot to think over, and a final decision won’t come easy.
“I’d say I’ll make a final decision whenever this situation is over with coach Meyer,” Battle said.
And what happens if Meyer is no longer with Ohio State?
“There may be a change [in commitment status],” Battle said. “Unless somebody else really good comes in, but I don’t think anybody can come in as good as coach Meyer.”
