OSU lands top cornerback

By Bill Rabinowitz and Tim May

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

With national signing day approaching on Wednesday, Ohio State continued its recruiting hot streak Sunday night when four-star cornerback Armani Reeves committed to the Buckeyes.

The battle for Reeves had come down to Ohio State and Michigan. Coaches from each school visited with the West Roxbury, Mass., cornerback in recent days. His decision was considered a toss-up, but Reeves picked OSU’s Urban Meyer over Brady Hoke.

Reeves announced his decision Twitter.

“I’m going ...... #BuckeyeNation #SilverBullets #GoBucks !!!!!! God led me here (a)n(d) in god I trust !! Lets go #BuckeyeNation !!!!’ he tweeted.

Attempts to reach Reeves were unsuccessful.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Reeves is the sixth-ranked cornerback by Scout.com and 17th by Rivals.com.

He will join Catholic Memorial High School teammate Camren Williams as a Buckeye. Williams, rated the eighth-best linebacker by Rivals.com, committed to Ohio State last week. Though Williams and Reeves are close friends, they stressed that they were not a package deal.

With the recent dismissals of Dominic Clarke and DerJuan Gambrell, the Buckeyes are thin at cornerback behind starters Bradley Roby and Travis Howard and backup Doran Grant.

Reeves becomes the 23rd member of the Buckeyes’ 2013 recruiting class. The newcomers apparently will not include Pickerington Central wide receiver Roger Lewis.

Rumors had abounded for several weeks that Lewis might not be part of the class, of which six members already are enrolled at Ohio State. His high school coach, Jay Sharrett, indicated as much Sunday when he told a Dispatch reporter he didn’t expect Lewis to sign with the Buckeyes on Wednesday.

Sharrett said Lewis does not yet have the requisite pre-enrollment test score and that he now is exploring other options. Lewis visited Ohio University this weekend. His coach said he also is considering Marshall and Bowling Green.

With Reeves in the fold, the big questions now are whether blue-chip prospects such as receivers Stefon Diggs, Davonte Neal or all-around athlete Joel Caleb might want to join the class, as well as safety Demetrious Cox and offensive linemen Kyle Dodson and Jordan Diamond. OSU likely has room for at least two or three more in the class.

“I am still considering Ohio State,” said Cleveland Heights’ Dodson, who was once committed to Wisconsin before opting to take closer looks at OSU, Southern California and Michigan State and others.