Justin Frye made a huge impression on one of Ohio State's top remaining offensive lineman targets this weekend.
Four-star Texas offensive lineman Daniel Cruz spent his weekend taking his official visit to Ohio State and said he was blown away by both Frye and Ryan Day's attention to detail when the pair gave him their recruiting pitches.
“The main thing I took away from that trip was coach Frye and coach Day’s goals they have for me and have for the program,” Cruz told Eleven Warriors. “Just seeing how much coach Frye cares about things, after seeing some things I do really well in and seeing some things I do bad in, he told me he’s going to maximize my potential and help get me better. He told me he’ll develop me into a first-round or second-round pick. Then coach Day told me about his circle of care and how you fight to be the better version of yourself each day. Honestly, those were big takeaways from that trip.
“But honestly the whole trip was very fun and very energizing. The players were amazing, I connected really well with them and it felt like I’ve known them for years basically. My family loved the trip, overall it was really good.”
— Daniel Cruz (@DanielCruz_51) June 2, 2023
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Cruz talked to Frye about playing on the interior at the next level. Cruz has played guard for Richland High School (North Richland Hills, Texas), but has recently practiced at center and said he hopes to continue to improve his snapping and have game film at center.
“They said next year they’ll be missing some guards because Donovan Jackson and (Matthew Jones) will be leaving next year so they’ll be looking for guards to fill those positions,” Cruz said. “But I’m also gonna try and fight for a center spot just to try and get in there as fast as possible.”
While on his visit, Cruz toured both the OSU campus and the city of Columbus.
“The campus tour was amazing,” Cruz said. “The city was vibrant at night and the campus was spread out, it’s like a five or 10-minute walk to like everything so it’s not too bad. The athletic facilities were amazing, some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Cruz said his player hosts were Luke Montgomery and Miles Walker.
“It was great,” Cruz said. “At first it was Miles and he just kept it real with me. He didn’t try BSing anything or try to recruit me, he just told me things I might wanna know. He was like a big brother to me to be honest.”
OSU left a favorable impression on Cruz from the visit, and the Texas product said he’ll be comparing other schools to the Buckeyes going forward. Cruz plans on visiting Texas A&M next weekend, Oklahoma on June 16 and Texas on June 23.
“It set the standard pretty high,” Cruz said. “Because the way coach Frye coached me up in there and told me things I could get better at, that’s what really got me. Because I’m looking to be coached and developed at the next level and be a great offensive lineman. He gave me advice on my run game and pass game, some of the techniques that they use that my school also incorporates, like punctures and 90 wedge, just offensive line terminology. Just a lot of explaining those steps to me.”
Cruz said he plans on sitting down with his family and high school coaches after he completes his official visits and will make a decision about his commitment shortly afterward.
“The main factors important to me are the goals they have set for me, the goals they have set for the program and how they’re going to develop me into a better person and player,” Cruz said regarding the factors he’ll be basing his decision on.
