Urban Meyer and his staff have been all over the country this past week checking out and offering some of the top players in the 2015 recruiting class. One of the offers they extended was to Warren (OH) Warren G Harding offensive lineman James Daniels, the son of former Buckeye offensive lineman LeShun Daniels.
Daniels, who grew up watching the Buckeyes, as his dad played his college ball in Columbus, was very excited to get an offer from the Scarlet and Gray.
"I have been talking to Coach Warinner and Mark Pantoni ever since last spring. I came for the Friday Night Lights camp and did pretty well," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "They wanted to me to call them and that's when Coach Warinner offered me the scholarship."
The state of Ohio has always produced good offensive linemen, a lot of whom attend Ohio State. Daniels was excited to learn he was the first 2015 offensive lineman in the state of Ohio to earn an offer from the top school.
"When I was talking to Coach Warinner, he specifically told me that I was the first Ohio offensive lineman they had offered," he said. "I really appreciated that because that pretty much told me that they thought I was the best offensive lineman in the state for my class."
While he's not sure on a visit date, Daniels would like to make it to Columbus early next year, possibly for an Ohio State basketball game.
"I'm not sure of an exact date, but I would like to visit in January or February," he continued. "I visited twice during the season for the Wisconsin and Iowa games."
It's relatively early in the 2015 recruiting cycle, but Daniels already has pretty good relationships with the previously mentioned offensive line coach Ed Warinner and Buckeyes director of player personal, Mark Pantoni.
"During the season I talked to Coach Warinner and Pantoni quite a bit," he said. "I wouldn't say we talk on Facebook everyday, but we check in with each other on Facebook often. We don't talk about football and recruiting too much, we just talk about how we're doing and stuff."
As his father, LeShun Daniels played for the Buckeyes, he grew up watching the Buckeyes. His dad was able to talk to him about the football program.
"He was just telling me that Ohio State is a really nice school. It's Ohio State, one of the top football programs in the country," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "He did say a lot of things have changed since he played there with new coaches and everything, but he said the one thing that hasn't changed is how great the fans are."
In addition to having a father there, Daniels' brother, LeShun Daniels II is a freshmen running back at Iowa. While he's interested in playing with his older brother, it won't necessarily have a big impact on his decision.
"It would be really nice to play with him, but I have to look at and choose the one that is best fitted for me."
He was able to be in attendance for two Buckeye games this year and he really liked both of the games he was able to make it to.
"The visits for the Wisconsin and Iowa games were a lot of fun," he said. "The environment at the game was awesome. It was hype."
Daniels currently claims no leader, but he does have an idea of when he would like to make and announce his college decision.
"I don't have any schools that stand out to me right now. Everyone who is interested is pretty even at this point," he continued. "I would like to make a decision before my senior season starts, but if I'm not ready by then I'll probably wait a little longer."
When he sits down to make his decision a little down the road, the coaching staff will probably be the biggest factor in his decision.
"The coaching staff has to be friendly, I need to have good relationships with the coaches," he concluded. "The fan base is also pretty important. I want the school I attend to have good fans."
While Daniels currently claims no leader, I'm pretty confident he'll be in Ohio State's 2015 class. He'll likely be a center or guard at the next level.