Bucky Lands Ohio Running Back

Lance Smith, the #23 prospect, in the state of Ohio, according to Scout.com, has given the Wisconsin Badgers his verbal commitment. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder, from Warren (Howland) chose the Badgers over Iowa and Pittsburgh. Check out what Smith had to say about his commitment.

“I liked my (Wisconsin) visit last weekend and I felt that Wisconsin was the best place for me.” Lance Smith said.

“Wisconsin has a good football program and I felt comfortable around the players and the coaches. Everyone was real cool. Wisconsin also does a good job at getting their guys to the next level (NFL).”

Smith is a terrific running back and he’s also a solid defensive back. He’s being recruited by the Badgers as a running back. The state of Ohio has arguably the best running back (Chris Wells) in the country but don’t tell that to Smith's coach.

“Lance can hold his own with anyone in the state,” said Dick Angle, head football coach at Howland.

“I was at (Youngstown) Ursiline for 17 years and I’ve never coached anyone as special as Lance Smith.

“Lance is a blue-chip back. He has terrific acceleration and balance, Lance can pound it between the tackles and he’s elusive enough to break outside and take it to the end zone.”

If you’ve visited Smith’s player page and checked out some of his junior video, you’ll see that he’s a terrific defensive player. If running back doesn’t work out for Lance in Madison, he can easily adjust on the defensive side of the football.

“I feel that Lance can be an unbelievable cornerback,” Coach Angle said. “I’ve never seen a kid with a better four-step plant and cut than Lance Smith. That’s just a God given thing you can’t teach. Plus, Lance can hit. He’s very physical.”

Smith had 1,981 all-purpose yards as a junior. He averaged 31-yards per kick return and led Howland in tackles from his linebacker position.

Smith had a total of 25 scholarship offers and he’s going to be a full qualifier in the classroom.

“The coaches at Wisconsin were very straight forward with me.” Smith said. “Now I can concentrate on my senior season.”

Check out Lance Smith in action by visiting his PLAYER PAGE