Over the last 18 months, Ohio State and Washington have crossed paths on the field and increasingly more so on the recruiting trail, than ever before.
Even before the Buckeyes and Huskies squared off in the 2019 Rose Bowl on January 1, a 28-23 victory that saw UW score 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, the two programs had already begun a budding rivalry.
On Christmas Day, exactly one week before the 105th Granddaddy of Them All, four-star Eastside Catholic High School (Bellevue, Washington) wide receiver Gee Scott Jr. announced his commitment to OSU.
Scott Jr., a 6’3 and 195-pound receiver ranked No. 50 overall by Rivals in the 2020 class, did not hold an offer from UW at the time of his decision. TheDawgReport.com explained last week how Chris Petersen operates with respect to scholarship offers.
Matt Lubick, the Huskies third receivers coach under Petersen from 2017-18, elected to return to his home state of Colorado and left the coaching profession following the Rose Bowl defeat.
For the 683 days that Lubick was in his role as WR coach and co-offensive coordinator, he determined Scott Jr. was not worthy of an offer. Nine schools, including Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) power Eastern Washington University, had offered by November 2018.
Petersen needed only 11 days to find the ideal replacement for Lubick; former Boise State and Western Kentucky assistant Junior Adams. It took the UW head coach one less day to hire Adams than it did for Petersen to choose Lubick to replace Bush Hamdan.
At Pac-12 Media Day, Petersen confirmed that Adams was considered for the job back in early 2017, but that he elected to take a greater role as offensive coordinator and WR coach under Mike Sanford at WKU.
From the time Adams joined the coaching staff on Jan. 17, to when he determined Scott Jr. was indeed UW scholarship material, it took only 154 days – more than four times the amount of time Lubick had spent as an assistant.
As noted in TDR offer explanation story, Adams proved his effectiveness as a high-level recruiter by going the extra mile to not only evaluate Scott Jr., but build a strong personal relationship with the recruit and his family.
“I think he’s a very great guy,” Scott Jr. said, when asked of his relationship with Adams after receiving the offer from UW.
Adams had secured two WR commitments – three-star Sawyer Racanelli and four-star Jalen McMillan – for the 2020 recruiting class when he offered Scott Jr. McMillan and Scott Jr. played on the same 7v7 team for Ford Sports Performance this past spring, with 2021 UW commit Sam Huard as their quarterback.
In the month since Scott Jr. received his offer one of his close friends and Eastside Catholic teammate, four-star running back Sam Adams II, announced his commitment to UW choosing to stay home over an offer from Ohio State, among others.
However, the highly touted receiver made it clear where he stands heading into his senior season without closing the door permanently on the potential choosing to stay closer to home.
“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity they’ve given me and I think that’s a cool deal. But I’m 100 percent happy with where I am with Ohio State. That’s just where I’m at,” Scott Jr. said.
“But, I mean, 100 percent any university that offers me the opportunity to be able to play at their college I’m more than grateful and I truly appreciate that. That’s just the way UW is. They kind of wait a little bit more than other schools, and I totally respect what they do.
“But for where I’m at right now this is where I stand and I’m going to be a Buckeye.”
Scott Jr. and his father, Gee Scott Sr., are expected back in Columbus for the home opener against Florida Atlantic University on August 31. That is the only game the OSU commit will be able to travel back for due to his high school football schedule until early November.
As defending 3A state champions, Eastside Catholic enter the 2019 season ranked No. 13 in the country by MaxPreps with a loaded roster on both sides on offense and defense.
If the Crusaders perform to their capabilities another state title run would likely rule out any chance for Scott Jr. to visit OSU for the final two home games against Maryland (Nov. 9) and Penn State (Nov. 23).
