The bad news, as far as Ohio State fans may be concerned -- Doug Worthington
will be taking a few other visits despite his commitment to the Buckeyes. The
good news, however, is that Worthington visited Ohio State this weekend and is
even more solid than ever.
“Yeah I’m going to take a few other visits, but they are nothing to worry
about,” Worthington told Bucknuts on Sunday evening. “This weekend was
incredible. I had the time of my life.”
Worthington is a 6-7 275-pound defensive end from Athol Springs, N.Y. who
committed to the Buckeyes in Mid-September.
This was the second game he’s been to in person, as he also watched the
game against Purdue last season.
He couldn’t say enough about the atmosphere.
“It was an awesome game,” Worthington said. “I was amazed at
everything. The festivities and everything going on was just an amazing
experience. I got to walk with the team over from St. John Arena and I got to
hear the band and everything.”
Worthington feels he owes it to the process to take a few visits and check
out some other places. That didn’t stop him from trying to persuade other
recruits to attend Ohio State.
He and some of the other commitments all turned up the heat.
“I was with Alex a lot, and I got to talk to Rob (Schoenhoft) and Ryan
(Williams) a lot too,” he added. “We tried to talk to the guys who haven’t
committed yet, like the RB from Florida (Maurice Wells). I talked to him and
told him he needs to get on the ball and join us.”
“We talked a lot, we hung out, we cracked jokes to one another, and got to
know each other,” he added. “We all bonded really well.”
As far as his visiting other places, that’s something he continues to do
just as procedure.
He has a very loose outlook on how to phrase his taking other visits.
“I’d call them vacation visits,” Worthington said. “Just visits to go
see some campuses, talk to other players, and get to see other stadiums.”
He’s contemplated visits to Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Penn State
amongst many other teams.
Penn State has turned up the pressure in trying to get back involved.
“Oh sure, they are really knocking down the door just like all the other
Big Ten schools are,” he added. “It doesn’t hurt them to ask, but it won’t
do any good.”
The attention from Ohio State fans on his visit really surprised Worthington.
He couldn’t fathom they knew him so well.
“It was wild, I was walking around and there were all these people shouting
my name, saying 'Hi' to me, and welcoming me on campus and wishing me good luck,”
he explained. “It was really incredible. They were all so nice and so kind.”
Above all else, he didn’t mind that little contest they consider to be “The
Game”, either.
“The game was incredible, but I knew it would be,” Worthington said. “I
had no doubt we were going to come out fired up and win that game. Everything
was just crazy.”
Worthington was asked to characterize his visits elsewhere once again, and
asked if Buckeye fans would have anything to worry about.
He was resolved in his intentions.
“Oh don’t worry,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m going to be there
(at Ohio State next year). Believe me.”