No. 1 Corner Tony Grimes Chooses UNC over Ohio State, Texas A&M and Georgia.
Top-10 national prospect and five-star cornerback Tony Grimes (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) has officially announced his college decision, committing to the University of North Carolina on Instagram live through ESPN to begin Tuesday evening.
UNC was believed (by many) to be the favorite for the 6-0, 180-pound cornerback, ranked as the top player at his position by all major outlets. He chose the nearby Tar Heels over Ohio State, Georgia and Texas A&M.
"Mack Brown is an unbelievable head coach," said Grimes, who can do a bit of everything around the field. "He came in and turned that program around with players he didn't recruit, and now he is getting the players he did recruit. I trust him, and we are going to try and win a natty."
Grimes is the second-highest ranked recruit to ever sign with North Carolina, coming in only behind defensive tackle Marvin Austin back in 2007, and now bumps UNC up to the No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports Composite team rankings. He has maintained a very strong connection with defensive backs coach Dre Bly.
Grimes’ decision culminates a very slow month of June for Ohio State, which missed out on a handful of Top 300 prospects and also saw cornerback Devonta Smith flip to Alabama. There still isn’t much (at the moment) to be overly worried about, however, as OSU still comfortably boasts the top-ranked recruiting class for 2021 and can still add some very big names.
"Every other school said they're DBU, but Ohio State is officially DBU,” Grimes recently told ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren when asked about the Buckeyes. “Kerry Coombs coached all the top defensive backs from Jeff Okudah, Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward and more. I'm thinking in my head, 'If he can coach them up that list, I know what he can do with me. Ohio State is a lovely program.”
OSU did add ESPN 300 cornerbacks Ryan Watts and Lejond Cavazos in the recent 2020 class, and have since secured No. 4 corner Jakailin Johnson in the 2021 group. Safeties Andre Turrentine and Jaylen Johnson, along with athletes Denzel Burke and Jantzen Dunn, are also part of the 2021 secondary prowess.
Top-rated safety Derrick Davis Jr., a priority target for many, is also heavily considering the Buckeyes. Check back tomorrow as we dive deeper into some of the biggest prospects still on the board for Ohio State at all positions, and how the class might round out from here.
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