Ohio State Pulls Dynamic Class of 2016 RB Antonio Williams out of North Carolina
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
For four years Antonio Williams has been one of the top producing running backs in the nation regardless of grade classification tearing up opposing North Carolina defenses. On Sunday, Ohio State landed the highly regarded tailback when the Class of 2016 recruit verbally committed to the Buckeyes.
Williams, listed at 5’11”, 210 pounds, has been a difference maker since his freshman year running for 1,412 yards off 261 carries with 13 touchdowns. Showing his ability to be an every down back for North Stanly High School, he also caught 10 passes for 237 yards with three more scores.
Life on the field for Williams and the Comets really took off during the 2013 season with the team finishing the season 9-4 and Williams rushing for 2,170 yards off 273 carries with 18 touchdowns. During his junior year Williams did not disappoint rushing for 2,267 finding the end zone 27 times.
The New London squad has a 5-3 record with at least three games left on the schedule. Williams, once again, is not letting his fan base down averaging 261 yards rushing per game posting 1,824 yards on his senior season with 18 touchdowns.
The “win” for Ohio State was a loss for Wisconsin. The Badgers landed a verbal commitment from Williams on Dec. 4 but lost out on his commitment on Oct. 14 after visiting Wisconsin on Oct. 3. Ohio State hosted the North Carolina talent on Saturday for the Penn State game.
Some of the other schools trying to land Williams over the years have included Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Michigan State, Notre Dame, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Clemson, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Buckeyes 2016 class is absolutely loaded with talent. Of the 19 verbal commitments 15 of the recruits are rated as 5- or 4-star players. Ohio State has two other running backs pledged to the 2016 class, North Ridgeville High School’s all-purpose back Demario McCall (North Ridgeville, OH) and De Paul Catholic’s Kareem Walker (Wayne, NJ).
Photo credit: elevenwarrios.com; No. 34 Antonio Williams