Dallas Gant made the two-hour drive south from Toledo to Columbus with his parents anxious to work out with Ohio State linebackers coach Luke Fickell in order to fine-tune his game against the elite talent at the program's one-day camp.
What he didn't expect was getting pulled into Urban Meyer's office and receiving a scholarship offer.
"It feels great. Makes me know that my hard work is paying off," Gant said after the camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. "It's good to work out with Coach Fickell, so if I went here I know how he would be coaching me."
A four-star linebacker in the 2018 class from St. John's Jesuit High School in Toledo, Gant is a smooth athlete at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds. He now owns nine scholarship offers, including one from another Big Ten school, Michigan State. Gant said he intends to visit East Lansing soon in addition to one of the most prestigious Catholic universities in the country before the summer ends.
"I'm going to Notre Dame (Saturday) and then Michigan State in a week or two," Gant said. "No other places besides that."
It's likely the Fighting Irish will also extend an offer his way, tossing another big-time hat in Gant's pool of options. That happens to plenty of Toledo kids.
"It's really diverse," Gant said of living on the border of Ohio and Michigan. "Dad likes Michigan, don't know what my mom likes, it varies with the school so we'll see."
Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines haven't offered Gant yet, but the smart money is on him checking out what they have to offer before he commits anywhere. But Ohio State, Meyer, and Fickell made the first step in earning his services on Friday.
"It was good to be in (Meyer's) office," Gant said. "It was a big office, I'd never been in there. It was just great to know I can go there if I wanted to.
"(I'm) happy obviously, excited that I could actually attend The Ohio State University."
That offer is on the table for Gant, who knew he would get plenty of time Fickell on Friday. Talking with Meyer at length, touring the WHAC, and earning an offer was a significant bonus.
"It's a big impact," Gant said of receiving an offer. "Be up here a lot more and see the place, see if it's a good fit for me and go from there.
"It's good to know what the coach, if I played for, was coaching me with and the drills he would be doing and I could actually do them at home," Gant said. "I can teach my players how to do that. It's good to know that and keep doing it."
