4-Star DB Leon O'Neal excited about upcoming junior day visits

As the spring football season nears, it’s clear that there two things Leon O'Neal has plenty of - talent and enthusiasm.

After an explosion of offers from top programs around the country since the end of fall, Ohio State has entered the picture as one of the most recent to enter the chase to add him in 2018. The Buckeyes are going to have to take a number in the short-term, however, as he tries to organize all the stops he’s going to be making in the coming weeks.

After making an appearance at Texas A&M’s junior day event last month, he’s looking forward to getting on campus for similar events at Texas and Oklahoma. So busy has he been with his spring schedule that he’s not even sure when he can get to reigning national champion Clemson, but the Tigers are certainly a priority.

Since the end of January, O’Neal has also paid visits to Oklahoma State, TCU, and Tulsa.

On Ohio State

“Getting that offer was absolutely amazing - as getting most of my offers is,” he said. “But that’s one of those powerhouse schools, one that you get offered by that you’re like, ‘it’s happening.’ They’re losing a lot of players like Malik Hooker, they have two seniors that are leaving, so that opens the door for the younger guys, to make a lot of plays and shut the whole NCAA down.”

“Jaiden Woodbey actually just got into my DM’s and was like ‘you know what to do, right?’” he said. “Guys I know going there say it’s amazing, the coaches work with you and there is a lot of opportunity there. You watch the draft, you see plenty of DB’s going - Eli Apple, Hooker is probably going to be high in the first round as a safety.”

On Oklahoma

“Bob Stoops is an amazing coach, amazing person,” he said. “You know most coaches are, I don’t want to say stuck up, but they let the business take over their personality. He doesn’t do that - he’s open to every prospect he recruits and he really wants me there as well and that’s a good feeling.”

“They’re one of my top teams,” he said. “Oklahoma Sooners - you can’t miss out on that, so I’ll be there next week. They won a championship and it’s going to be amazing going there and seeing everything, seeing where I can fit at, meeting the players, meeting the coaches, seeing how everything goes on campus, it’s going to be crazy.”

On Texas

“Tom Herman? At Texas? Amazing,” he said. “I’m a big Herman fan. He can beat a team like Louisville, like Florida State, and Oklahoma - you got to give him praise. If he can go to Texas, a powerhouse school like that and bring that energy there - think about it.”

“I talked to Coach Herman and he let me know they were feeling me,” he said. “I know he’s a busy man with a lot of stuff going on, so for him to reach out to me let’s me know it’s for real. Coach (Craig) Naivar is the one I talk to most of the time.”

O’Neal’s TBD trip to South Carolina to see Death Valley is all the more exciting to him on the heels of Clemson’s win over Alabama in the national championship game. The vaunted Brent Venables defense has certainly raised his eyebrows.

“I was amazed at how they played defense and could send pressure and still cover,” he said. “When you send pressure and can play man-to-man throughout the game, disguise different zone coverages, you’re going to make plays in the game. I like to hit and Clemson comes with it - they like their big safeties; 6-1, 6-2, coming down hard - they love that.”

O’Neal has shown that he is interested in personally seeing as many of the schools that have offered him as he can, and he’s of no shortage of top programs to choose from. He doesn’t seem likely to make a pick on a program before he sees it for himself, but for now there’s no telling if he might start feeling compelled to make that decision sooner than later.