The first player to commit to Ohio State’s 2019 recruiting class is not going to be a Buckeye after all.
Offensive guard Doug Nester from West Virginia flipped his commitment Wednesday and signed with Virginia Tech.
Nester first committed to the Buckeyes back in August 2017, and made regular appearances at Buckeyes games this fall.
However, he also made trips to Virginia Tech and Penn State during the year.
After Urban Meyer announced his decision to retire, Nester began to waver further on his commitment.
He had originally planned to sign with the Buckeyes during the December early signing period, and then enroll in January.
After Meyer said that he was stepping down, Nester pushed back his plans to re-evaluate things.
After visiting all three schools again, Nester decided that he wanted to be in a smaller town, instead of a big city like Columbus.
Nester ranks as the 6th-best guard in the country, and the No. 106 player overall.
His decommitment leaves OSU with just two offensive linemen in this class at the moment, 5-star center Harry Miller and 4-star tackle Ryan Jacoby.
However, it is widely expected that OSU will add two more linemen on Wednesday, 4-star guard Enokk Vimahi and 3-star tackle Dawand Jones.
He is the third player in the Buckeyes’ 2019 class to flip and sign with another team on Signing Day. Quarterback Dwan Mathis flipped to Georgia and DB Jordan Battle flipped to Alabama on the Early Signing Day in December.
Signed…? #HardSmartTough pic.twitter.com/kKD7sgEZ0u
— Doug Nester (@Freshie74) February 6, 2019
Agree Nester is throwing away a tremendous future by not joining Buckeyes. Throwing away a chance to play quickly, play for BIg Titles, potentially NC, develop for the NFL. Hard to understand but foolish is a good word. Did I mention our O line room is thin?
Good luck, kid.
I had a pre-game field pass for Oregon St game and this kid was standing next to me in the end zone watching the team warm up. Based on his comments I heard him make to his friends and his body language I think this was a matter of him recognizing that he was going not be competitive for an OL spot for a while due to the talent level ahead of him. He looked like he either wasn’t ready to swim with sharks or never wanted to. Good luck at VaTech. Bucks need the best talented kids who want to compete… or a more attractive option at OL coach to recruit them.
What a fool.