Taco Charlton now at four offers
Pickerington (Ohio) Central defensive end Taco Charlton's showing at the Columbus NIKE Camp in May earned the class of 2013 prospect recognition from a broader audience, which included several new college coaching staffs.
"It seems like that created a little bit of buzz," Charlton said of his NIKE Camp performance. "After that camp I got two more offers from Syracuse and Purdue."
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Charlton added offer No. 4 on Wednesday from UCLA. His most recent offers joined a previous offer from Cincinnati. Charlton has also seen interest pick up from other programs since his NIKE Camp appearance.
"I got a lot of good vibes from Notre Dame. I have been in touch with their coaches," Charlton said. "Real early I talked with Michigan State and UCLA."
Charlton returned to Columbus for another camp last month, hoping to build upon his May showing at Ohio State's campus.
"I went to Ohio State's camp, but that was the only camp I have been to," Charlton said. "I did real good, they said. They said they still want to evaluate me against better competition because I dominated there."
Being the in-state school, Ohio State holds strong appeal for Charlton, but he does not claim any leaders this early in his recruitment.
"I'm open to go anywhere - I'm not set on Ohio State," Charlton said. "I always wanted to go there, but it's not something where if they offer that would definitely be the school I want to go to."
Charlton still has two more years of varsity football before he signs his college letter of intent, and his immediate focus is on his high school team. Additional visits to college campuses will take place this fall, and possibly later this summer as well.
"Our football season is about to start up, so I'm not going to visit too many more [schools]," Charlton said. "I might try to visit Purdue just to see the campus before the summer is out.
"I want to go see a couple Notre Dame games and Cincinnati has some big games they want me to come to. Even Syracuse said they want me to come to some of their games. I should be able to go to some Michigan State games too."
As a sophomore, the 6-6, 240-pound Charlton collected more than 40 tackles, eight passes batted down, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. This fall he plans to add another position to his résumé.
"This year I am going to be playing tight end too and try to make some plays on the offensive side of the ball," Charlton said. "My focus, though, is still on defense."