For a long time the gray box has been used for positive news, but today that ends as news surfaced a short while ago that DE/OLB Lewis Neal has de-committed from Ohio State.
Neal, from Hunt High School in Wilson, North Carolina, became Ohio State's 13th commit in the recruiting class of 2013 early last week when he gave his verbal pledge to the Buckeyes following his visit to the Spring Game.
Although he maintained he was firmly committed, Neal had Buckeye fans wondering if he truly was on board with OSU, when he was found tweeting about other schools this past weekend. The doubts of those fans became reality today as Neal opened back up his recruitment on the heels of getting an LSU offer, saying "I don't know, my scholarship is open he said (Coach Meyer), so I guess I'm not committed anymore, but I still consider them. I just don't think I was ready yet and took the right amount of time to think on my decision to be honest."
The loss of Neal isn't back breaking, especially at this point when it's early in the process and there is still time to recruit other players. That being said, I thought Neal definitely had a lot of upside and was a player who flashed the in-game speed that Meyer coveted at the OLB/DE hybrid position Lewis was projected to play.
At this point I'd be surprised if Neal ends up in a Buckeye uniform, but for now he claims he is still considering Ohio State, holding them high on his list, but just needs more time to make a decision.
