2016 Toledo Central Catholic ILB Zach Sandwisch has committed to West Virginia today. They had been his leader since January and he felt comfortable pulling the trigger. Keenan Cummings detailed the commitment a little earlier in the hour
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This will be interesting in terms of how Ohio State proceeds with him. Just from conversations with Zach and getting to know him over the past year, I think he has a bit more Alex Stump than Nick Conner in his DNA. Meaning I'm not necessarily sure that he's going to be one of those kids that comes to Columbus and camps when he already has offers from high-level programs and has committed to one in West Virginia. He has the whole "country boy" thing personality-wise and he thinks he fits in pretty well at a place like WVU.
With that having been said, I'm still of the opinion that he ends up in Columbus regardless of this commitment. This isn't Donnelly pulling a homer and saying that Ohio State is going to get the 15 best kids in the state every single year, it's that Sandwisch is going to be way too good his senior year for Ohio State to ignore him. I think he forces their hand and becomes a "must-get".
He already has a great relationship with Fickell and his brother lives in Columbus, much of his family are huge Ohio State fans. This is a do-able flip for the Buckeyes if they want to go that route. I expect him to come out his senior year, the first season of his high school career in which he won't have been impacted by that knee injury he suffered at the end of his freshman year, and just assert the fact that he's the best linebacker in the state of Ohio. Looking at the consistency and work ethic Sandwisch brings to the field from play to play, I don't think it's really all that close between him and Brendan Ferns for that title.
Link
This will be interesting in terms of how Ohio State proceeds with him. Just from conversations with Zach and getting to know him over the past year, I think he has a bit more Alex Stump than Nick Conner in his DNA. Meaning I'm not necessarily sure that he's going to be one of those kids that comes to Columbus and camps when he already has offers from high-level programs and has committed to one in West Virginia. He has the whole "country boy" thing personality-wise and he thinks he fits in pretty well at a place like WVU.
With that having been said, I'm still of the opinion that he ends up in Columbus regardless of this commitment. This isn't Donnelly pulling a homer and saying that Ohio State is going to get the 15 best kids in the state every single year, it's that Sandwisch is going to be way too good his senior year for Ohio State to ignore him. I think he forces their hand and becomes a "must-get".
He already has a great relationship with Fickell and his brother lives in Columbus, much of his family are huge Ohio State fans. This is a do-able flip for the Buckeyes if they want to go that route. I expect him to come out his senior year, the first season of his high school career in which he won't have been impacted by that knee injury he suffered at the end of his freshman year, and just assert the fact that he's the best linebacker in the state of Ohio. Looking at the consistency and work ethic Sandwisch brings to the field from play to play, I don't think it's really all that close between him and Brendan Ferns for that title.
