Why Ohio State is ‘one of the schools at the very top’ of 2025 DE London Merritt’s recruitment

London Merritt had NFL aspirations before he played a snap of high school football. The 2025 defensive end said his goals stemmed from watching games with his father on Sundays.

“I remember him telling me ‘You can make it happen, but it’ll take a lot of hard work and a really long journey,’” Merritt told The Dispatch.

Now Merritt, who has transferred to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season from Woodward Academy in Georgia, holds 40-plus offers from top college football programs around the country. He’s a borderline top-100 player in the 2025 class and a top-10 defensive end per 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Defensive lineman London Merritt of IMG Academy football

Ohio State has an interest in Merritt, having made an official offer. And Merritt has an interest in OSU with an official visit scheduled for June.

“My relationship with them is great,” Merritt said. “They are one of the schools at the very top of my list.”

He told The Dispatch he’ll also make an unofficial trip to Columbus the weekend of March 30th.

London Merritt develops close relationship with Larry Johnson

According to Merritt, his recruitment “blew up” after his sophomore season at Woodard where he recorded 33 tackles, six tackles-for-loss and nine sacks, per MaxPreps. Ohio State’s offer came shortly after, which sparked a relationship between him and Buckeyes defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

“Like Chase Young, Nick Bosa and Joey Bosa, he made them superstars,” Merritt said. “They took everything that coach Johnson gave them and they still use them to this day.”

Merritt describes himself as a “very versatile player” who can play defensive end, defensive tackle and linebacker helped by past training as a running back.

But Ohio State is not the only school left for Merritt to consider. He said schools such as…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-ohio-state-one-schools-110738953.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2024-03-08 11:07:38

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.