Vonn Bell is one of the highest rated prospects in the country and he now will play his college football at Ohio State.
The five-star safety from Rossville, Ga., selected Ohio State live on television on ESPNU from Tennessee, national champion Alabama, and Ohio State. Bell was a Tennessee fan growing up, but his allegiances are now with Ohio State, as he picked the Buckeyes and coach Urban Meyer.
Everett Withers, Ohio State's safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator, was the top man to try to snag Bell, and his high school coach Mark Mariakis called Withers the "most proficient and professional recruiter we've ever dealt with." Meyer also had praise, saying that it was as good of a job as he has ever seen with a recruit and that he got on top of the situation like an "octopus".
Signing day made Meyer nervous. "I couldn't take it anymore," Meyer said. "Everett Withers was driving me nuts. I wanted to get away from him."
The Buckeyes pulled a great coup, grabbing a player from the south and keeping him away from SEC schools. The Buckeyes have one of the top recruiting classes after signing day, including players like Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson, Corey Smith and James Clark.
"It's going somewhere maybe in a hostile territory, and I don't want to overdramatize it," Meyer said, "but if you can go into Atlanta, Ga., and go pull a linebacker (Trey Johnson) out of that high school, that's big boy business. Only certain (assistant) coaches can do that.
Last season the Buckeyes went 12-0, but were banned from postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.
"It was a great day," Meyer said at the start of his Wednesday afternoon news conference. "I thought it was going to be a very good day, but I'd put it in the great category."
According to Cleeveland.com: Scout.com ranked Ohio State as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country; Rivals.com put Ohio State No. 2, behind Alabama; ESPN ranked the Buckeyes No. 3 behind Alabama and Florida; and 247Sports.com had the Buckeyes at No,. 4 behind Alabama, Ole Miss and Florida.
The Ohio State defense was already solid last season, ranking 31st in the nation last season, allowing just under 23 points against per game, and it should be even stronger now with the addition of Bell.
