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Price is right for Ohio State
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Fitch defensive lineman Billy Price (54), shown here in a game against Poland, became one of the first players to commit to Ohio State’s 2013 recruiting class.
By Joe Scalzo
On Saturday, roughly 111/2 months before high school juniors will be able to sign national letters-of-intent, Fitch junior Billy Price took a campus visit to Ohio State, saw everything he needed to see and said, “This is it.”
“In my heart, I made my decision,” said Price, an All-Ohio lineman who will play defensive tackle in Columbus. “I’m very confident in that decision.”
On Monday, he made it official, becoming one of the first players from the 2013 class to verbally commit to new coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes.
“I was tired of playing the recruiting game,” he said. “They were the front-runner since my sophomore year when I went to the Ohio State-Michigan game. I was amazed at the atmosphere and the fan base and I fell in love with Ohio State University.
“The coaching change [from Jim Tressel to Meyer] wasn’t too much of a factor for me. Urban Meyer knows what he’s doing.”
While Price’s size (6-foot-4, 305 pounds) and natural ability was enough to entice college recruiters, Fitch coach Phil Annarella said Price’s work ethic, intelligence (his grade point average is above a 3.5) and strong family background separate him from even the best athletes.
“Most guys at that level show the god-given size and god-given ability early, but the best ones are the ones that develop it and are coachable and work at achieving their maximum potential and Billy is one of those,” said Annarella.
Annarella compared Price to a lineman he coached at Warren Harding more than 20 years ago — Korey Stringer, who was also a standout at Ohio State and for the Minnesota Vikings.
“By the middle of his junior year, I said, ‘That kid is going to be playing on Sundays, no two ways about it,’” Annarella said of Stringer. “I think Billy has some of those same attributes.”
Price grew up playing football, basketball and baseball but was recruited to track as a freshman when T.J. Koniowsky, an assistant freshman coach and the school’s throwing coach, took one look at him and said, “If you don’t play baseball, you might want to think about trying this [throwing shot and discus]. It’ll force you to do a lot of unnatural movements and really help with your footwork.”
This winter, Price dropped basketball to focus on indoor track and will enter the outdoor season as one of the favorites to win the Division I discus title. His district-winning, 176-foot throw last season was just three feet off the school record and he placed 11th at the state meet.
“At some point last year, he came to me and said, ‘What’s the plan if I don’t do basketball? I don’t want to be 350 pounds,’” said Koniowsky, who has Price do cardio workouts during his weightlifting class and has him working with the team’s sprint coach twice a week in addition to his strength training. “He’s always looking for a way to make himself better.
“He’s got a lot of the physical tools that other kids aren’t blessed with and it would be easy to rest on that but he’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever seen.”
Added Price, “My whole approach to training is, there’s always somebody else working harder. So I’ve got to be better than the recruit next to me, bigger, stronger and faster.”
Price, a four-star recruit, is the third verbal commitment in OSU’s 2013 class, joining four-star safety Cam Burrows and four-star athlete Jalin Marshall. All three are ranked among ESPN’s top 100 juniors. Two other Valley juniors, Mooney safety Courtney Love and Howland RB De’Veon Smith, also have OSU offers.
Price chose the Buckeyes over UCLA, Notre Dame, SMU, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Nebraska, Miami of Ohio, Michigan State, Michigan and Arizona. He’s one of two Fitch juniors with a Division I offer so far, joining running back Billy Aaron (Pittsburgh). Fitch also had three seniors sign Division I letters-of-intent earlier this month: Will Mahone (Notre Dame) and Chris and Demetrious Davis (Pittsburgh).
Price’s decision immediately caused his phone to light up — “It’s insane,” he said. “You’re about the sixth [reporter] I’ve talked to today.” — but he knows his life will be less stressful moving forward.
“It’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Price, who said the most difficult part was telling other college recruiters of his decision. “I’m not someone who wants to come out straight and tell you bad things. It’s very difficult to tell a nationally-known college, ‘No, thank you, I’m interested in another college.’
“That’s not my personality.”