George Hill Decommits from Ohio State: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The Ohio State Buckeyes may be the defending national champions and No. 1 in the current rankings, but they took a loss on the recruiting trail Wednesday.

According to Bill Greene of Scout.com, athlete and all-purpose back George Hill decommitted from Ohio State’s 2016 class. Hill recently visited Pittsburgh and Michigan State and discussed his decision, per Greene:

"

I have decided to decommit from Ohio State. After talking with my family and my coaches, I have decided to reopen my recruitment. I want to thank Ohio State University and head coach Urban Meyer for the opportunity, and wish them nothing but the best moving forward.

I'm going to consider all schools moving forward from this point.

"

The 6'0", 200-pound Hill is a 4-star prospect, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, and the No. 129 national prospect and No. 7 prospect from the state of Ohio in his class.

He was originally the first player to verbally commit to Urban Meyer’s program in the class of 2016, although he is not the first to re-open his recruitment. Defensive end Terrell Hall also decommited from Ohio State’s class in August.

The loss of Hill is significant, but Ohio State does have running back Kareem Walker as part of its 2016 class. Walker is a 4-star prospect, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.

What’s more, Ari Wasserman of the Northeast Ohio Media Group noted the Buckeyes are hosting running back prospect Antonio Williams for an official visit Saturday during their prime-time game against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

However, Wasserman pointed out Walker visited the Michigan Wolverines and “was impressed” and “still plans to take three more official visits.” If the Buckeyes also lose Walker after Hill's decision to decommit, the recruitment of Williams will take on even more importance.

Ezekiel Elliott is the star running back at Ohio State this season, but he is widely expected to enter the NFL draft following his junior campaign. The Buckeyes have sophomore Curtis Samuel and freshman Mike Weber in their backfield, but they need to add depth on the recruiting trail with the impending departure of Elliott.