Last summer, Jermaine Eluemunor's recruitment was one of the wildest recruiting rides ever. You may recall that Eluemunor committed to UCLA very early in the process, then visited Ohio State (and committed, albeit not publicly,) then visited Arkansas (and committed,) and then ended up signing with Texas A&M, where he's now enrolled. What you didn't know is that Paris Palmer, Eluemunor's fellow bookend at tackle for Lackawanna Junior College, was picking up some recruiting interest of his own last year, and the last few days have seen it pick up. Rapidly.
"Arizona State offered me yesterday, East Carolina and Ohio State offered me today," Palmer told Eleven Warriors. "I'm up to five offers now."
With an offer from the Buckeyes, Palmer, a 6-foot-9, 305-pound tackle, will undoubtedly watch his recruitment move into a totally different stratosphere. He's trying to not think too far ahead or let himself get too caught up in the hype.
"To be honest I'm still in disbelief about everything," he said of the new attention coming his way. "Where I come from things like this don't happen. I'm just thanking God for all the blessings right now. I know many people let offers get to their head but I would never let that happen."
Where Palmer comes from, Plymouth, North Carolina, is a town of less than 5,000 in the eastern half of the state known for paper products and not football players. How did a player like Palmer end up in Scranton, the home of Dunder-Mifflin, the world's most famous fictional paper company?
"I tore my ACL my senior year and I didn't have any offers at all, so I decided to get a job after I graduated (high school) in 2011," Palmer said of his path to college football scholarship offers. "I was working and rehabbing at the same time but I always wanted to get back to football so a mutual friend told me about Coach Duda and his success with offensive lineman so I decided to come to Lackawanna."
That decision has clearly paid off. He has three years of college to play out his final two years of eligibility, and Palmer's recruitment is just starting to ramp up. While he doesn't have any plans to make a choice anytime soon, he does have an idea of what to expect because he was recruited out of high school. That knowledge, combined with the dramatics around Eluemunor's may give him an edge in the process.
"I've been recruited before so I sort of know the ins and outs (of the process," he said of recruiting. "Watching (Eluemunor) and how he dealt with the process definitely showed me what to do and what not to do."
The first thing for Palmer to do is to get himself set up on a few visits, and Columbus is definitely a place he wants to check out.
"I hope to visit Ohio very soon," Palmer said of the Buckeyes. "Their tradition makes them stand out (to me.) I used to always watch the Michigan vs. Ohio State game, and being given a chance to be a part of their family is nothing short of amazing. I'm honored (at the chance.)"
