catmandoo
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posted 05-20-2018 10:35 AM
When Chris Oats signed with Kentucky in February, Vince Marrow knew what message he wanted to project: Kentucky had just beaten Ohio State in a recruiting battle for an Ohio prospect whom both schools coveted.
Marrow, Kentucky’s recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach, couldn’t help but smile during his National Signing Day press conference.
“Everybody thought Chris was going to Ohio State,” Marrow said at the time. “But I kind of knew where he was going. I just kept it to myself. But until he signed the papers, I was nervous all the way until last night.”
Oats was the third-highest-ranked commit in the Wildcats’ 2018 class. He was the 22nd-ranked outside linebacker and the 325th-ranked overall prospect, according to the 247Sports composite. Despite being one of the gems in Kentucky’s class, Oats would’ve ranked in the bottom third of Ohio State’s No. 2 nationally ranked group.
Kentucky prioritized Oats’ signature while Ohio State played a wait-and-see game, as Oats described to SEC Country in an interview at Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati.
For Marrow and Kentucky, persistence paid off.
“They came to see me almost every week, stayed in touch, texted me every day and every night,” Oats said. “It got annoying, but that’s how I knew they really wanted me. Other colleges weren’t really doing that.”
Link [ 05-20-2018, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]
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