Gabe Powers waited until the final hours of the early signing period to send his National Letter of Intent to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes never had any reason to worry.
Powers waited two days longer than the rest of Ohio State’s December signees to make things official for a simple reason: He wanted all of his family and friends to be able to share the moment with him.
As Powers gave thanks to the crowd of supporters who had packed inside the clubhouse at The Ridge Golf Club in Marysville on Friday night, it was clear just how much his family and community meant to him. Powers became particularly emotional as he thanked his parents Mike and Erin, stopping to collect his thoughts before continuing with his speech and officially signing the paperwork to become a Buckeye.
Gabe Powers giving thanks to his family and others who have helped him get to this point before signing with Ohio State.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 18, 2021
Powers said he chose to sign tonight rather than Wednesday because he wanted to make sure all of his family could be in attendance. pic.twitter.com/wGllXKdWUi
“It meant the world,” Powers said of officially becoming a Buckeye with his family in attendance. “I forgot to thank some people, but when it got to my parents, it got really emotional.”
Powers’ Friday night signing came in contrast to the other 17 players who signed with Ohio State during the early signing period, all of whom sent in their National Letters of Intent by 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Anyone who knows Powers, though, already knew that his delay was nothing to worry about – because after all, he’s been dreaming of playing for Ohio State his whole life.
“That’s always been the goal since the day I was born,” Powers said of playing for Ohio State. “We’ve always been Ohio State fans, our whole family.”
Tough.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 18, 2021
Physical.
Ultra competitive.
Newest member of #H2 - @GabePowers21 #BOOM22 pic.twitter.com/AldqeNzx57
Ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the state of Ohio and No. 61 overall prospect nationally for the recruiting class of 2022, Powers was offered the opportunity to play for the Buckeyes just after his sophomore season at Marysville High School and committed to Ohio State before the start of his junior year. Since then, Powers has been locked in on becoming a Buckeye, allowing him to focus on building relationships with Ohio State coaches and players rather than being recruited by other schools.
Even so, Powers said Friday that it still hadn’t quite sunk in that his dream of wearing the scarlet and gray is about to come true.
“It’s a blessing, but it’s surreal almost,” Powers said. “It hasn’t truly set in, and it won’t until I’m there, but I’m very excited to be a Buckeye.”
That feeling will begin to set in soon, as Powers is set to arrive at Ohio State on Jan. 4 as an early enrollee. Soon after that, Powers will be introduced to life as a Buckeye in the form of winter workouts with Mickey Marotti. He knows those workouts will be hard, but he says the hard work that’s about to come is what he’s actually looking forward to most.
Playing for Marysville has instilled a love of hard work in Powers – even since Marysville’s season ended a month ago, he’s been working out twice a day to prepare for his arrival at Ohio State – and that work ethic is the biggest thing he wants Ohio State fans to know he has as he begins his Buckeye career.
“I’m gonna give you 110 percent, I’m gonna give you everything I’ve got and I’m gonna work as hard as I can,” Powers said.
Ohio State will surely be expecting its players to work harder than ever this offseason as the Buckeyes look to bounce back from their first loss to Michigan in 10 years, but that’s something Powers will be ready to embrace too, as he’s already developed a hatred for the team up north through his lifelong Ohio State fandom.
“I was pretty mad about that game,” Powers said when asked about the 42-27 loss last month. “I know it’s hurting a lot of guys at Ohio State and it’s making us at home mad, so we’re gonna work to make sure it never happens again.”
One of the biggest goals for Powers when he arrives at Ohio State next month will be to start adding weight. Powers currently weighs just 215 pounds, but he eventually expects to bulk up to about 245 pounds, he told Eleven Warriors.
If Powers can add that weight to his 6-foot-4 frame, he could potentially be ideally suited for the hybrid linebacker/defensive end position – called “Leo” at Oklahoma State – in new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ scheme. He has the athleticism and well-rounded skill set to potentially play multiple linebacker positions, though, and he says he’s willing to line up wherever Ohio State’s coaches want him.
“Any position they want me to play is what I’m gonna play,” Powers said.
Powers doesn’t know exactly what coaches he’ll be playing for yet, as the arrival of Knowles means at least one member of this year’s coaching staff will be leaving at the end of the season. Powers hopes Al Washington will remain at Ohio State as linebackers coach, as Washington was his primary recruiter, but he’s excited about the future with Knowles leading the defense regardless of what changes might come to the staff.
“There’s not gonna be any huge change. So I’m ready for whatever,” Powers said. “Ultimately, it wasn’t just one person I committed for. So I’m ready.”
Ultimately, coaching staff changes weren’t going to deter Powers from signing with the Buckeyes because of what Ohio State means to him. To Powers, Ohio State already feels like home – in part because of where he grew up and the love of Ohio State that runs throughout his family, but also because of the brotherhood he’s already started to feel from making visits to Ohio State and being a part of Ohio State’s recruiting class of 2022 since he committed to the Buckeyes more than 16 months ago.
“Well, first, it’s 30 minutes away from home,” Powers said when asked why Ohio State feels like home. “But the atmosphere, a lot of people talk about the brotherhood too, you don’t experience the brotherhood til you’re there and you’re in it actually. So that was a big one.”
