When Isaiah Pryor enrolled at Ohio State in January, it marked 18 months since he made his commitment to the Buckeyes.
Pryor was Ohio State’s 10th pledge in the 2017 class and he committed all the way back in July of 2015. There was no drama in his commitment, either, which is somewhat odd for a player of Pryor’s caliber. Not that all recruits have it, but four-star prospects from Georgia who commit to a school far away from home that early in the process usually express at least some interest in other places.
Pryor didn’t, though, and perhaps that’s why some people seem to forget about him when Ohio State’s 2017 recruiting class is discussed. But it’s also easy to overlook a player like Pryor when the Buckeyes signed such a talented class.
The No. 59 player in the country and the seventh-ranked safety, according to 247Sports composite, Pryor would be the highest-rated player for all but 18 schools in the country. On paper, he was Ohio State’s 10th-highest ranked recruit in this 2017 class.
That all speaks more to the amount of talent the Buckeyes brought in than it does Pryor, of course, but it also might help illustrate why Pryor sometimes gets lost in the shuffle in this class.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder does not see it that way, though.
“Forget about me? No. I’m just here to work, here to get my degree, here to play,” he said on National Signing Day. “They can forget about me if they want to, but they’re going to hear about me eventually.”
The entire class is loaded, but Ohio State’s defensive back haul in 2017 is perhaps the most impressive. The Buckeyes signed six players in the secondary with Pryor being one of those.
He’s the lone player coming in as a safety, though, as Jeffrey Okudah, Shaun Wade, Kendall Sheffield, Marcus Williamson and Amir Riep will all begin their Ohio State careers at cornerback. That could be a big reason why Pryor potentially gets on the field as a freshman in the fall. After the departure of Malik Hooker and the reported move to offense by Eric Glover-Williams, the Buckeyes are a bit thin at safety.
“We’ve only got like five safeties,” Pryor said. “They might move a corner to safety or something like that, but I feel like I could come in here and play whether it be special teams or anything like that.”
Damon Webb is the lone returning starter in the secondary for Ohio State and the senior-to-be figures to have one of the starting safety spots locked up. Another senior, Erick Smith, along with sophomore Jordan Fuller and redshirt freshman Jahsen Wint are the only other scholarship safeties on the Buckeyes’ roster in addition to Pryor.
It’d be a bit unusual for a true freshman to come in and start from Day 1 at the position, but Pryor certainly has the skill set to be involved in the discussion.
“I guess I’m just relentless, a hard worker, really pursues toward the ball and has ball skills,” Pryor said. “Just ready to play.”
In order to make that happen, in addition to enrolling early, Pryor opted to spend his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
“It helped a lot,” Pryor said. “Going against that type of talent every day made me better. I can say that 100 percent. From when I first came there, I had some weaknesses I was working out. Going through camp, going through practices with people like Dylan Moses, stuff like that, it made me better.”
In Pryor, Ohio State got another player Urban Meyer considers "ready–made." And the Georgia native is certainly excited to get his college career started.
“We’re definitely coming in to help, trying to see if we can get some playing time," Pryor said. "Just excited to be part of something special.”
As long as nobody forgets about him.
