Last weekend, the Ohio State Buckeyes football program received news that one of their prized recruits, linebacker Alex Anzalone from Wyomissing, Pa., was de-committing from his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes that he had made only a few weeks prior.
One of the top linebackers in the country, Anzalone has offers from many elite programs and settled on Ohio State as the college of his choice.
Yet a disturbing event occurred on his unofficial visit to Columbus last month, where a registered sex offender approached Anzalone and a group of recruits after the Buckeyes' spring game.
Charles Eric Waugh, a registered sex offender in the state of Kentucky, got to take pictures with Buckeye recruits and posted them on his Twitter account.
I'm not here to judge Waugh or his past, as I'm not rightfully qualified to do so.
I'm here to ask if the visiting process is flawed in college athletics. Does this aspect of the recruiting process provide enough safety for recruits?
It's really imperative that a recruit not only take just the one allotted official visit to a school they're interested in. I'd go as far as to advise the recruit to take at least three trips to a school, at different times of the year, before committing.
Anzalone was doing just that last month, as he was really interested in Ohio State and wanted to visit for the spring game weekend before committing.
Yet, when a recruit goes to a school on a visit, he's hosted by a current member of the team—but should added security be included?
Sal Anzalone, Alex's father, told ESPN this:
You would think that these kinds of people would be kept at a distance away from recruits...The fact that he got close to recruits was the issue. Keep people like this away from them. I can't be everywhere.
Coaches really only spend so much time with a recruit on a visit, as they talk football and off-the-field things. Coaches know that a good portion of how a recruit feels about a visit is if he has a good time.
So, they have the hosts take recruits to parties and other hot hang-out spots, ensuring they have fun. At the end of the day, we forget these are just 17 and 18-year-old teenagers.
Yet, are recruits truly safe when they're not with the coaches?
Anzalone's situation proves that maybe they're not in all cases.
Sure, there was no way of knowing Waugh was a sex offender, but what if Waugh had a gun? What if Anzalone had gone to a party where a jealous Ohio State student who didn't make the team as a walk-on started a fight with him?
So much can happen on these visits, and coaches can't babysit recruits the entire time they are there visiting, to which I fully understand.
However, I'd like to see programs have security with recruits on visits.
Anzalone was with a group of prospective Ohio State recruits, so why not have an off-duty Columbus-area police officer escort them around along with the host for the weekend?
This is an unfortunate event for Buckeyes football, but Ohio State has a chance to actually improve its recruiting efforts.
The Buckeyes have a chance to send a message to the country, fans, recruits and parents of recruits by making a visit to Columbus and The Ohio State University safer.
They should take that chance.
Damaso Marte Mariano Rivera Kerry Wood Francisco Cervelli Chad Moeller Jorge Posada
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