Michigan Football: Ohio State Baseball Commit Blown Away By U-M Visit
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Michigan hosted an outstanding list of visitors this past weekend, including one — Columbus (Ohio) St. Francis DeSales athlete Joey Velazquez — right from the heart of enemy territory.
Velazquez is actually currently committed to the Buckeyes to play baseball, but was blown away with what he saw in Ann Arbor over the weekend.
“It was awesome,” he exclaimed. “My mom, aunt, brother and sister all came with me and we had such a great time. We got to watch practice, and they had a whole presentation lined up for us.”
Velazquez said he went into the trip with high expectations, but that they were definitely exceeded.
“The whole thing was just unbelievable, to be honest,” he continued. “My family loved it. My little brother actually asked my mom if he could paint his room ‘Michigan.’ That was pretty funny. I think he thought he was big man on campus or something.”
While Velazquez’s family members clearly enjoyed themselves on the trip as well, the Columbus native revealed his favorite part was actually interacting with several of the U-M coaches.
“It just felt like I already knew all the guys on the staff,” he explained. “I gelled so well with them — Coach [Don] Brown, Coach [Al] Washington and Coach [Mike] Zordich were the main guys I talked to.
“They actually see me as a viper, which I think is perfect for me. My high school coach said he views me as a hybrid linebacker/safety-type player at the next level, and that’s that I’m playing this year [at St. Francis DeSales]. Most other schools are recruiting me as an outside linebacker at this point though.”
Velazquez admitted this past weekend’s trip won’t be the last time he’ll be in Ann Arbor in the near future.
He actually plans on making the three-plus hour drive up US-23 once again in the coming months.
“I’m going to hit some camps there this summer, so that’s my main plan right now,” he forecasted. “I’ll actually probably take a few more visits there too — most likely one of my officials. I’m not sure where my other officials will be, but Michigan will definitely be one of them.”
We’ve seen plenty of Michigan/Ohio State recruiting battles in recent years, but seldom do they feature a dual-sport athlete like Velazquez.
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