Last night, the next step in what sure looks to be the eventual decommitment of running back Kareem Walker happened.
Can confirm from talking to Antonio Williams that he will be visiting #OhioState this weekend, arrives Saturday, leaves Sunday night.
— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) October 14, 2015
That is Antonio Williams, a four-star running back from North Carolina, who has been committed to the Wisconsin Badgers since last December. Today, Williams officially re-opened his recruitment and decommitted from Wisconsin.
— Antonio Williams (@A_B_Williams34) October 14, 2015
I spoke briefly with Williams last night and he made an effort to downplay the importance of his visit.
"I will be visiting this weekend," Williams told Eleven Warriors. "I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I know I'm going to get to watch a heck of a game."
The visit, an unofficial visit, will run from Saturday morning through Sunday evening and there's little doubt that the increased attention from the Ohio State staff is in directly correlation to the decrease in confidence that Kareem Walker will sign with the Buckeyes. Williams, like Walker, plans to enroll in college in January, so time is of the essence for each.
What do I think will happen? Obviously it's easy to play the middle ground here and say "anything could happen," but I'll try to avoid that. The feeling I get is that Ohio State is recruiting Williams and Walker as though they don't have a running back committed, one way or the other. Williams' visit is by no means a coincidence.
My prediction, right now, is that Williams ends up at Ohio State and Walker ends up somewhere else, but that will ultimately be Kareem's decision. There's a small chance that the Buckeyes finish up with both, but that could be a pipe dream. Was there an "24 hour ultimatum" issued for Walker? No, that was denied by Kareem himself and people at Ohio State, but I do believe a decision to move on with or without Walker has been made. If he wants to come to Ohio State, he's welcomed to, but don't expect the Buckeyes' staff to stand idly by while he explores his options.
Urban Meyer, on the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday afternoon, was asked about committed prospects taking visits to other schools and he responded in that vein.
"As long as they look around, you just have to have a ‘Plan B’ ready," Meyer said. "If there’s (a commit) that from day one was hook, line and sinker, it’s over. That spot is saved…but when a guy takes a slot but says, ‘I’m going to go visit some schools,’ you’ve got to keep it going.”
