Conner Crowell talks Ohio State visit, timeline

By Smith | 4/26/10 | Email

Ever since he received a scholarship offer from Ohio State last month, Conner Crowell has wanted to take a return visit to Columbus.  His previous visit for the contest with Southern Cal last fall had left him with a great first impression of the Buckeyes.  Saturday’s annual Scarlet vs. Gray Spring Game was the perfect chance for the 6’1”, 215 pound linebacker from Waldorf (MD) North Point to get another look at the program.

In order to get a more thorough look at all aspects of the school, Crowell and his family decided to add a day to their trip, “We left on Thursday around 7 and got into Columbus around 2 AM Friday.  On Friday we went and visited all of the facilities and went on the academic tour.  Then we got something to eat with the coaches.  On Saturday we went to the game and left right after the game,” said Crowell.  “I’m home now.  It was like a 7 hour drive each way.  We got home around 3 o’clock this morning.  It was definitely worth it.  It improved my thinking of Ohio State.  They’re definitely going to be one of my favorites in the end.“

The OSU coaches made sure to let him know how just much he’s wanted too.  “We spent a lot of time with Coach Fickell, which was nice.  I got to learn more about him and what kind of person he is.  He’s cool.  He got to sit down and talk to my parents at dinner.  It was fun.  I had talked to him a couple of times before.  He came to my school last year and I saw him.  This wasn’t the first time I’ve met him,” said Crowell.  “They confirmed my offer and we talked about coming back.  I’ll definitely be back there for an official.  Coach Tressel said he’ll see me in September.  So that’s either going to be for the Miami game or my parents, they want to come for the Michigan game.  I don’t know yet because we kind of want to stay home for Thanksgiving.“

Crowell also had the chance to spend some time with some of his contemporaries as Ohio State was hosting around 40 prospective recruits for the game.  Out of that group however, Crowell was the only linebacker on site with an Ohio State offer.  I wondered aloud if that was a highlight of his trip or affected his thinking any of OSU.  “I didn’t think of that really.  I mean that’s great, but I already think very highly of Ohio State,” said Crowell.  “Honestly, my highlight was probably just walking into the stadium.  Everybody was saying ‘Come to Ohio State, come to Ohio State’.  Football is just so different up there and they take their football seriously.  It must have been like 9 or 10 people that just came up and asked me for my autograph.  That’s never happened before so it was crazy.”

As for some of those other prospects, Crowell said, “I got to meet Jeremy Cash, Wayne Lyons, and a couple of the other guys that were there.  Jeremy’s a cool guy.  We talked about his decision and he let me know how great he thinks Ohio State is.  It wasn’t too much though.” 

From the sounds of things, all of the recruiting that is common from fans and players considering the same schools doesn’t pose a problem for Crowell at all. “No, I loved it.  It was a great time.  I mean, I love talking.  If you ask all of my teachers, they’ll tell you I’m always talking in class,” he said with a laugh.  “I talk to everybody, you know.  I guess I get it from my mother because she deals with people on her job all day, every day.  My mom can talk up a storm so that’s probably where that comes from.”

So since I had him talking, I pressed on for the big questions: do you have a leader and when will you commit?  “I don’t have one leader but I know 3 of my officials will be to see Ohio State, West Virginia, and North Carolina again.  I’ve seen all 3 this spring and definitely want to again.  I’m thinking about deciding around the end of the season.  I’m not sure yet though.  It won’t be into February though.”

Considering his recent performances, don’t expect the interest or recruiting attention to do anything but go up for Crowell until then.  The fan bases for these schools can look forward to seeing him on their campus at least once more and getting the chance to talk to him in person.  

Maryland Ranking 

30. Conner Crowell
6'1", 215 / OLB / North Point
Early Projected Ranking: 5.6/

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