Ohio State and Michigan in a battle for Aaron Scott

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — One of Ohio State’s most important recruiting battles right now revolves around Springfield (Ohio) cornerback Aaron Scott. Considered by some to be Ohio’s top prospect in the 2024 class, the Buckeyes have made Scott a top priority, but so has rival Michigan.

While schools such as Notre Dame and Tennessee are also heavily involved with the Top 100 prospect, Scott acknowledges that he talks to the staffs in Columbus and Ann Arbor the most and being in the middle of a fierce rivalry already has been a surreal experience.

“It’s crazy,” Scott told BuckeyeHuddle.com during an in-person interview on Monday. “They’re both saying that they’re not going to let me go to the other school. They both feel like they’re going to do whatever they can to get me to go there and they don’t like when I talk about them to each other.”

Ohio State has gone about recruiting Scott in an aggressive, yet patient, manner.

“They’re really just telling me that they want and whenever I’m ready, they’ll be ready for me,” Scott said. “(Tim Walton) tells me all the time that when I’m ready he’ll be ready.”

Walton has been relentless in pursuing Scott and was at Springfield High on Monday watching the Wildcats’ college showcase in front of dozens of college coaches. Ryan Day has also taken a big part in recruiting the big-time cornerback.

“Those are my guys, for real,” Scott said. “They check up on me all the time. I talk to coach Day like every other day. I talk to coach Walton every day. We talk a lot about things outside of football, too.”

Michigan’s Steve Clinkscale has been Scott’s primary recruiter for the Wolverines and has also built a strong bond.

“Coach Clink, that’s my guy,” Scott said. “He checks up on me all the time. He talks to me all the time, not just about football, but life after football.”

Scott recently made some waves calling it ‘annoying’ that people assume that just because he’s from Ohio and grew up a Buckeye fan that he will sign with the Buckeyes. Though that doesn’t mean he won’t.

“I understand what they’re saying though,” he started, when asked about the speculation. “Because I’m from Ohio, and I grew up watching Ohio State all the time, it would make sense if I was to go there. I feel like, just because I grew up watching them doesn’t mean I’m going to go there. I could possibly go there, but I’m not sure right now.”

Scott is closing in on a summer time decision and some big visits will be happening next month.

“I haven’t locked them in yet, but I’m going to try to take official visits in June and then try to commit sometime in July,” he stated. “Before the season I’m going to commit.”

It should come as no surprise which two schools are guaranteed to get an official visit.

“O-State and Michigan, I know those two for sure,” he said. “I’m not sure about the other ones.”

When the dust settles though, it will come down to relationships and development as it so often does.

“Really getting to spend time with all of the coaches and getting to interact with all of the commits and other recruits,” Scott explained. “Really just seeing how everybody interacts and who I get along with and who I could see myself winning a natty with.”