The future stars of Ohio State football officially begin their Buckeye careers as standouts from all over the country put pens to their National Letters of Intent.
One of the country's top junior college prospects, offensive lineman Malcolm Pridgeon from Nassau Community College in New York, has chosen to continue his college career at Ohio State.
The Pridgeon File
- Class: 2016
- Size: 6-8/303
- Pos: OT
- School: Nassau CC (New York)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: 3 (JC OT)
The 6-foot-8, 303-pound Pridgeon, who has been recruited by the Buckeyes staff even before they offered him a scholarship last March, is a relatively new name to recruitniks, but that's because, until recently, there had not been much extended conversation between the two parties.
With almost 30 offers to his name, the battle for Pridgeon really came down to Ohio State and Baylor, where he visited in June. Florida and West Virginia also received an official visit from the Central Islip, New York native.
Pridgeon is a first-team junior college All-American and ranked as a five-star prospect on Scout.com.
Baylor, led by Art Briles recruiting efforts, had been the leader for the offensive lineman for months after his visit to Waco. However, Ohio State's Ed Warinner had made Pridgeon's inclusion into the recruiting class a personal goal.
From last night's version of The Hurry Up:
In early December, despite not needing another lineman, Ed Warinner ratcheted up the interest and made Nassau Community College, and New York in general, a priority and began to really cultivate his relationship with Pridgeon. As the two discussed a potential visit to Ohio State, it became clear that interest was there on both sides but could the Buckeyes make enough of an impact to overcome the longstanding relationship Pridgeon had built with Baylor? Could Warinner convince the powers that be that the Scout.com five-star was worth taking no matter what?
On his official visit, Pridgeon was blown away by the academic support staff at Ohio State and the Buckeyes' staff was blown away by his maturity and focus.
The 24th commitment in Ohio State's 2016 class, Pridgeon is the fifth offensive linemen, joining Tyler Gerald, Jack Wohlabaugh, Michael Jordan and Gavin Cupp. With two years of college football behind him, he is the most likely to see the field next season for the Buckeyes.
Eleven Warriors will have more on the commitment of Malcolm Pridgeon soon.
