As the nation's 8th-ranked tight end, C.J. Conrad is a pretty hot commodity on the recruiting trail. He's got scholarship offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Duke, Indiana, Illinois and others, but he's still waiting on the major regional programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Notre Dame to come through with a scholarship.
Today, Conrad was back at Ohio State where he checked out the Buckeyes' scrimmaging and sat in on positional meetings with Ohio State's tight end coach, Tim Hinton. It was a visit that was illuminating for Conrad for a number of reasons.
"Coach Hinton was really honest," Conrad told Eleven Warriors about his day trip to Columbus. "We got to talk one-on-one a lot and he said he is very interested and he wouldn't of asked me to come if I wasn't a guy they were super interested in. I got to sit on tight end meetings, which was great. They really focus on being a compete tight end."
The Buckeye did not offer Conrad during his visit, but he says the relationship is strong between he and Hinton because of Ohio State's commitment to being honest about their evaluation of him.
"My film is hard to evaluate because of the competition I play (against,)" he said of what the delay in "major" offers could be. "(Ohio State) wants to see me again at camp to make sure they're is making the right decision in offering. They wants me to camp to earn it, and I'm good with that."
After the Buckeye visit today, Conrad is done with college visits until the summer. Until then, he's going to be working hard to prepare himself for an important camp season.
"I'm going to be working harder than ever to put on weight, and to get stronger and faster," he added about how he'll prepare for summer camps. "I will prove to them I'm good enough to play for the Ohio State University."
Conrad had a busy spring, visited Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. Now he's going to get back to work earn the offers he covets. Despite no offer from the Buckeyes yet, he's optimistic after today's visit.
"Today was very positive," he concluded. "I can tell I'm important to Ohio State."
