After Damarion Witten officially visited Kentucky two weeks ago, some recruiting insiders began predicting that Witten would become a Wildcat. Instead, Witten committed to Ohio State on Saturday.
With the four-star tight end now headed to Columbus, Kentucky tight ends coach Vince Marrow took to Twitter to respond just over an hour after Witten’s commitment, claiming he still “got the target I wanted” and calling the tight end who actually committed to Kentucky this week, three-star prospect Willie Rodriguez, “and SEC groan man.”
I got the target I wanted this is SEC ball and we got and SEC groan man. Go Big Blue.
— CoachMarrowUK (@vincemarrow) June 25, 2023
Witten’s father, Dale Davison-Witten, responded with multiple tweets on Sunday, while Witten himself simply tweeted about his excitement to be a Buckeye.
Got these Coach's in they feelings about my children! #Respectfully #developedhere
— Dale Davison-Witten (@CockyCleveland) June 25, 2023
He wanted to challenge himself,. stay close to home and compete! We don't run from competition in this family we embrace it! Respect his damn decision! Told him he wont play at OSU! Watch what he do in Columbus! #nothingeasy https://t.co/woEb7J3vUO
— Dale Davison-Witten (@CockyCleveland) June 25, 2023
feels great waking up a buckeye #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/A8BOtqYPzp
— Damarion Witten (@DamarionW1_) June 25, 2023
The tweet from Marrow was seemingly targeted at Witten and his more slender build, as Witten is currently listed at just 215 pounds – and will need to bulk up if he’s going to be a full-time tight end at Ohio State – while Rodriguez is listed at 240 pounds at the same 6-foot-4 height. That said, Witten is ranked nearly 900 spots higher in the 247Sports composite rankings, a reflection of his playmaking potential as a pass-catcher.
No idea how Damarion Witten caught this, but he did. pic.twitter.com/s9VS3x7iLF
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) June 14, 2023
Even though Kentucky landed Rodriguez’s commitment on Friday, the Wildcats still wanted Witten, who would have been their second-highest-ranked commitment behind four-star quarterback Cutter Boley in their 2024 class. But while Marrow, a Youngstown native, has had notable success recruiting the state of Ohio as Kentucky’s associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, he was unable to beat out the Buckeyes for Witten, who joins fellow four-star tight end Max LeBlanc in Ohio State’s 2024 class.
