Alabama '19 FL S - Jordan Battle (Alabama Verbal)

A top 100 overall prospect on @247Sports, south Florida DB and #OhioState commitment Jordan Battle was a ball hawk all week at The Opening.

Free video and analysis:https://t.co/xF0H3BTHx3 h/t @TomLoy247 pic.twitter.com/mYlJh3fDIK

— John Garcia, Jr. (@JohnGarcia_Jr) July 8, 2018

 

2019 Ohio State commit Jordan Battle is now the No. 3 overall ranked safety prospect according to the Updated 247Sports Rankings.

 

BATTLE BREWING

With Meyer’s future in question, it would be understandable for the current crop of commitments to consider other options.

Ohio State’s next two recruiting classes have stayed intact despite the uncertainty, however, with four-star cornerback pledge Jordan Battle the latest to reaffirm his commitment — though he admitted he’ll be keeping an eye on how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks.

“I still feel strong about [my commitment],” Battle told the South Florida Sun Sentinel during the Miami Dolphins High School Football Media on Saturday. “I’m going to see how things play out right now, but right now, I’m still a future Buckeye.”

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Battle — who is actually listed as the 12th-best safety and No. 162 prospect overall in the Class of 2019 — committed to Ohio State in late June, less than a week after his long-anticipated official visit. His relationship with Meyer and the aforementioned Johnson played a key role in his decision to pick the Buckeyes over more than two dozen other offers.

That said, Battle acknowledged he’ll entertain offers from other schools if Meyer is not retained, including Alabama, Florida, Miami and Oklahoma. He’s in the process of planning official visits with the Gators and Sooners this fall, as well, so — for Ohio State’s sake — it would be better if the situation is resolved in the next few weeks.

 

Ohio State four-star cornerback commit Jordan Battle and several targets, including four-star linebacker Derek Wingo, playing on ESPN2 this evening: https://t.co/wUDpXsgKfU

— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) August 25, 2018

 

Battle: 7-yard TD reception, 2 TFL in a 38-0 win.

 

Ohio State DB commit Jordan Battle is waiting to speak with Urban Meyer before deciding on future visits, but a trip to one rivalry game is likely. (VIP) https://t.co/BBVpUgct5b pic.twitter.com/mLn0pXRwGG

— Luke Stampini (@LukeStampini) August 28, 2018

 

Ohio State commit Jordan Battle checks out Alabama

When football starts, so does recruiting season. And with games, recruiting visits come along with them, right?

Right.

For Ohio State, that means the annual tradition of trying to keep every commitment in the mix, because every year there are a few dudes pledged to the Buckeyes who decide to look at other programs. The first instance of that this season has already happened, since last weekend St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) defensive back Jordan Battle made the trip from Southern Florida to Orlando to observe the Alabama Crimson Tide and Louisville Cardinals kick off their seasons.

No matter how committed a player is and no matter who he is committed to, when Alabama gets in the mix, things get hairy. Of course, right now there are a lot of folks who feel that any Ohio State commitment could be tenuous as players and their families get back in touch with Urban Meyer. Most of that happened on Monday of this week, but there are still questions that need answered for some. For the country’s eighth-ranked safety and his parents, that appears to be the case.

“He apologized and said he was sorry that we had to go through the investigation,” Fred Battle, Jordan’s father, shared with Lettermen Row. “We are a little more confident now, but still some questions have to be asked. We will wait to ask in person when we visit for a game.”

According to Battle, that visit will happen on Oct. 13 against Minnesota, so don’t expect anything to calm down in this recruitment until then at least.

 

Ohio State commit Jordan Battle taking that punt to the CRIB 🤘🏾 @jordantofly100 @STA_Football pic.twitter.com/2ai2sGMuEK

— Overtime (@overtime) September 8, 2018

 

It was a short evening for the STA 1's, Battle played just one quarter. He made the most of it with a 35-yard touchdown on a punt return as well as a forced fumble and a sack.

 

In a 52-0 win over Stranahan (Fla.), St. Thomas-Aquinas (Fla.) safety Jordan Battle made two tackles. Battle's Raiders are now 4-0 and have allowed a total of six points. Battle is one to watch moving forward, but Meyer's return should ease any concerns that have come up over the last six weeks.

 

Another visit for Ohio State commit Jordan Battle with more to come?
In order for the 2019 class to really end up in the special category, Ohio State has to make sure its current crop of commitments stays put. There are few concerns at this point, but there’s no doubt that the recruitment of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back Jordan Battle remains one of them.

Battle took in the Alabama and Louisville game in early September as a guest of the Tide, though that game was at a neutral site. There’s a new visit on the horizon for Battle, and it will be to Oklahoma, according to the Sooners site on TheFootballBrainiacs.com.

Before everyone freaks out, it should be noted that Battle’s visit could just be for fun, since he’s heading to Norman with St. Thomas teammate Jaden Davis, an Oklahoma commit, and fellow Fort Lauderdale native, running back Kenny McIntosh. The visit, if he makes it, appears to be an official visit, which really doesn’t change much about the reason but does change who is paying for it. It certainly behooves the Sooners to take a shot with Battle, even if they have to pay for it, since he’s one of the country’s most elite defensive backs. They’ll hope his relationship with Davis is enough to open a window in his recruitment.

Battle is expected to make his next visit to Ohio State on Oct. 13, and that will be an official, according to his father. He told Lettermen Row following the trip to see Alabama that he and his son still had a few more questions they wanted the Buckeyes to answer before they’d entirely shut down the recruitment.

“[Urban Meyer] apologized and said he was sorry that we had to go through the investigation,” Fred Battle, Jordan’s father, told with Lettermen Row. “We are a little more confident now, but still some questions have to be asked. We will wait to ask in person when we visit for a game.”

Before the Ohio State visit, and maybe even after though, there will be more visits according to his dad. Still, at this point, Buckeyes fans can feel somewhat secure in his commitment.

“He has three official visits left and wants to use them,” the elder Battle said on Tuesday. “But he Loves Ohio State and loves the defensive coaching staff, especially Coach [Taver] Johnson. It will take something serious to happen to change his mind.”

This has all the intrigue of a traditional Florida-based recruitment, so hang on tight. Look for LSU, Alabama and maybe Florida to still get him on campus for official visits.

 

BATTLE HEADS TO NORMAN

Jordan Battle's plan all along has been to take all of his official visits, even after verbally committing to Ohio State this past summer. So, the St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) safety's expected presence at Oklahoma this weekend shouldn't raise any alarms just yet.

At this point a flip from the Buckeyes to Sooners seems unlikely and it appears Ohio State's staff will mostly be battling things out with Florida, Miami, and Alabama. The Crimson Tide's missing out on Daxton Hill may cause Nick Saban to go all in on a player like Battle, so we'll have to see how much of a push Bama puts forth.

Oklahoma does have one thing working in its favor and that would have to be four-star cornerback commit Jaden Davis. He's a teammate of Battle's and the duo is set to make the trip to campus together this weekend.

Remember, when Urban Meyer's three-game suspension was announced, Battle told the Sun-Sentinel "I still feel strong about [my commitment]. I’m going to see how things play out right now, but right now, I’m still a future Buckeye.”

The Jameson Williams news made Ohio State's first big recruiting splash since Meyer's arrival back on campus. Getting Battle back in town for the official visit and solidifying things will be another priority in the coming months.

 

Look for Battle to take a few more visits...……...

 

Ohio State commit Jordan Battle goes in-depth on his recruitment after recent trips to see Miami and Oklahoma. (VIP) https://t.co/m4I52ZE7Xa pic.twitter.com/4E6MdDU6pm

— Luke Stampini (@LukeStampini) October 6, 2018

 

Video: #Buckeyes commit Jordan Battle @jordantofly100 is having a big-time senior season and that continued on Friday in a win over Deerfield Beach: https://t.co/yOjAjJidIv

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivler) October 7, 2018

 

Jordan Battle will not make it to Ohio State for Nebraska game
Another weekend will pass where Buckeyes commitment Jordan Battle does not return to Columbus as he and his family have hoped they would. The Ohio State verbal had planned to get to Ohio State’s Oct. 13 game against Minnesota but the noon start time wrecked havoc on potential flights and that issue hasn’t been fixed, so this weekend doesn’t seem to be a “go” either.

“I don’t think we’re coming,” Fred Battle, Jordan’s father, told Lettermen Row. “It’s hard to get flights for a noon game.”

Battle had told LR a few weeks ago, following the Minnesota game, that it was likely the family would be up for the game against Nebraska or the game against Michigan. It seems now though that either date may not work.

“It’s hard for [the Michigan game] as well,” Battle said. “It’s hard for that game as well. It’s playoff season and they have practice on Saturdays. It may not happen.”

If that visit doesn’t happen, neither will the primary reason for the visit, which was to have the family sit down and talk with Urban Meyer in person about the events that led to his August leave of absence and for them to talk to the man they want to coach their son throughout college about his health issues. Rumors about Meyer’s future have cast a large shadow over, and it gets longer the further you get away from Ohio.

“We are all tired of the ‘Urban is leaving’ talk,” Fred Battle said. “If Urban Meyer is there for the next four years, [Jordan] is all in. But is his health that bad that he might step down? We are praying that’s not the case. We are ready for this to be over.”

For now, it’s not over. In fact, it may just be getting started. Next up is planned official visit to Alabama on the weekend of Nov. 10, then there’s still a chance he takes an official visit to LSU, as well.

To this point, I’ve cautioned getting too worked up about the odds of losing Battle, but it’d be a good thing for Ohio State if he and his family are able to see the Buckeyes again in Columbus. Taver Johnson and Alex Grinch visited St. Thomas Aquinas High School last Friday and stayed to watch the Raiders 58-0 blowout win over Pompano Beach (Fla.) Blanche Ely.

“That visit went well,” the elder Battle said. “He put on a show for them.”

Battle committed to Ohio State in June, a week after his official visit with the Buckeyes. How long will he stay committed? That’s up in the air.

 

Jordan Battle and what Ohio State needs to happen
So the long-awaited Jordan Battle to Alabama official visit happened last weekend. To this point, he’s still committed to Ohio State, which is good news for the Buckeyes.

But they are definitely not out of the woods yet.

What happens from here is going to be very interesting. The Buckeyes certainly want to keep Battle in their recruiting class, and to do that, I really think they need to get through this week. If that can happen, it’s reasonable to expect he’ll wait to make any final decisions until after the at-home visit season, which begins at the end of the month. That would give Urban Meyer and Ohio State a chance to visit Battle — since it appears he won’t visit Columbus again this season. And it would give him and his family real insight, straight from the source, about Meyer’s future plans rather than having to hear about it second-hand and from sources that would benefit from instilling seeds of doubt.

There’s a post-visit glow to worry about right now, so stay tuned for these next two or three days.

 

Seems to be a Alabama vs Ohio State battle...…..

Day scheduled to visit next week...…..