Ohio State Secures Another Cornerback Verbal for '21

The Big Ten and NCAA can impose whatever limits are prudent in the wake of a feared COVID-19 outbreak, but they cannot put the brakes on Ryan Day's recruiting success.

For the second day in a row Monday, Day acquired a verbal commitment from a defensive back to replenish the Buckeyes' secondary in 2021.

Cincinnati LaSalle three-star cornerback Devota Smith follows the Sunday commitment of St. Louis four-star J.K. Johnson in pledging for OSU.

Day and, more accurately, defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, won Smith in a recruiting battle with Alabama, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

It would have been an upset if Coombs, a long-time Cincinnati high school head coach, former University of Cincinnati assistant and six-year Buckeyes assistant back in Columbus after two years with the Tennessee Titans, had lost out on a player Ohio State wanted from the Queen City.

Smith becomes the second LaSalle Lancer to commit to OSU, joining safety Jaylen Johnson, as a future Buckeye.

Linebackers coach Al Washington recruited Johnson away from his other finalists, Akron, Cincinnati, Iowa State and Indiana.

That's not typical competition for Ohio State in the recruiting realm, so it's same to say Day and his staff see something in Johnson and the three-star Smith that convinces them both will adapt and flourish in Columbus.

Mid Season Highlights 🔥🔥https://t.co/k857caekx7
— 🥀Devonta Smith🥀 (@Prince_Tay_) September 30, 2019

Smith is rated the nation's No. 32 cornerback by Rivals/247 Sports.

Coombs will have his work cut out for him building the OSU secondary in 2020 following the loss of three starters from a College Football Playoff participant and the off-season dismissal of expected starters Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint.

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