Ohio State made news earlier this year after snagging some of the nation's best recruits for its February signing class. Coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes were off to a similarly strong recruiting start this year, but one recruit's encounter with a fan caused him to pull his commitment.
Alex Anzalone, one of the nation's top linebacking recruits, committed to Ohio State last month, but decommitted Friday after learning he and several other recruits had unknowingly met a convicted sex offender.
During Anzalone's visit to Columbus, Ohio on April 21, he and two other recruits posed for a picture with Charles Eric Waugh of Ashland, Ky., and the photo made its way to Twitter. Only later did Anzalone learn Waugh, 31, had pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of underage sexual content in 2008. Waugh has had several interactions with players and recruits both in person and through social media.
Anzalone called assistant coach Luke Fickell on Friday to let him know that because of that interaction, he would not be attending Ohio State.
"There's a disconnect between what Alex thought was there (at Ohio State) and what is actually there," said Anzalone's father, Dr. Sal Anzalone, on Friday.
"Something's just not right at Ohio State. It's not for him."
