Ohio State recruiting: Darius Fullwood recaps OSU visit

There were a handful of recruits in Columbus this weekend, but most of them have not yet been offered a scholarship by Ohio State.

The one player who was on campus who held a scholarship offer from the Scarlet and Gray was Olney (MD) Good Counsel defensive end, Darius Fullwood, who was making his first trip to Columbus since he was on campus for the Ohio State-Indiana game last November.

Fullwood had a great time on his return visit to Ohio State, which featured sitting in on defensive line meetings and watching the team's practice yesterday.

"We got a chance to go to the position meeting before practice and got to see Coach Johnson prepare his players for practice and go over the film and set his expectations for practice," Fullwood said. "That's one of the things I really liked a lot."

The practice was a great experience for Fullwood, as he really enjoyed the atmosphere the coaches and players brought to the table.

"I got to see them in game form. It was a great time," he said. "The atmosphere was great, I could definitely see myself there. The coaches are very energetic, very hype. It seems like a lot of the defensive linemen are learning from coach Johnson, even though he's only been there for a short period of time. It was really fast faced, there was a lot of energy, and I really enjoyed it."

He got to spend plenty of time with his primary recruiter and defensive line coach, Larry Johnson, who he had known for quite some time as Johnson was recruiting him for Penn State when he was on the Nittany Lions coaching staff.

"I spent a lot of time with him throughout the day. We had great talks," Fullwood told Land-Grant Holy Land. "I think he can be a mentor for me and can be one of those coaches who takes me to the next level. We have a good connection, so we talk about more than just football."

Fullwood also got to meet the current Ohio State defensive lineman, most notably Noah Spence. Unfortunately he didn't get to hang out with the players last night because of the weather.

"I got to meet all of the defensive linemen when I came in early before practice started. I got to talk to Noah Spence, a starting defensive end for Ohio State right now," he continued. "We were supposed to go out last night, but the weather was kind of bad, so that didn't happen. I'm sure we'll be able to go out next time I'm here. The whole defensive line is cool and seemed genuinely excited to have Coach Johnson on the staff."

The standout defensive lineman told me the Buckeyes are "in the lead" for his commitment and a May decision is still the plan for Fullwood and he has some schools he would like to visit before making things official.

"I'm still probably going to decide in May," he stated. "I'm visiting Virginia Tech April 5th, Georgia Tech and Alabama during the week of April 17th, and Michigan State, but I don't know the date for that one yet. I think I'll be ready (to decide) after those visits, so probably mid-May."

When he sits down to make a decision, there will be a couple of big factors he takes into account.

"Just the overall school feel," he said. "I want to make sure I like going there because I'll be there for four years, the ability to get a good education, and have a good network as far as looking for a job. Then good coaching, a good position coach who can teach and mentor me on and off the football field and hopefully take me to the next level."