Alex Anzalone: Prized LB Recruit Decommits from Ohio State Due to Sex Offender

ESPN's 65th-best 2013 recruit, LB Alex Anzalone of Wyomissing, Pa., has decided he will not be taking his talents to Ohio State after being disturbed by interactions with registered sex offender Charles Eric Waugh. 

Mitch Sherman, of ESPN, reported the details of this odd saga. 

Anzalone committed to Ohio State while visiting during their annual Scarlet and Gray spring game. However, events that happened during that visit is what led to his eventual de-commitment. 

Waugh, 31, approached Anzalone and two other visiting recruits. He had his picture taken with the recruits and ended up posting them on his Twitter. 

There is nothing too unusual about that, but there is more to this story. According to Sherman, not only did Waugh send several Twitter messages to Ohio State players and recruits, but it turns out that Waugh is a registered sex offender in Kentucky. 

Sherman relayed that The Lantern—the Ohio State student newspaper—reported that Waugh had previously entered a guilty plea on "five counts of possession of matter portraying sexual performances by minors."

And in the ultra-competitive world of recruiting, this was enough to have Anzalone re-open the recruiting battle for his services. 

Sherman spoke with Alex's father, Sal, and he advised his son to distance himself from Ohio State, saying, "Separate yourself because you don't want the NCAA thinking that you're being influenced by this joke."

Alex heeded his father's advice. He will now go back to the drawing board to pick his collegiate home.

College Football Talk's John Taylor is reporting that the recruit is now considering USC, Penn State, Notre Dame, Florida and Stanford, and has not completely ruled out recommitting to Ohio State.