Boren Has Great Visit to Columbus

Zach Boren may have a brother at Michigan and a father who played at Michigan, but anyone thinking he was a maize and blue lock may have to reconsider. The Pickerington Central junior visited Ohio State this weekend and has drawn interest from a number of other schools.

The nearly unanimous thought for quite some time has been that Zach Boren will follow the family footsteps. After all, his father Mike played for the Wolverines and his brother Justin is currently a starter in Ann Arbor. The thought of someone in such a maize and blue family even considering Ohio State may seem like a farfetched idea, but Boren was in Columbus for a visit this weekend, where the Buckeyes made quite an impression on the junior linebacker.

“It was amazing up there,” an excited Boren said, “I got to meet coaches and talk to Coach Fickle who I’ve known for awhile. I know lots of people who go there and I saw a bunch of them. The atmosphere was great and my best friend is thinking about going there, Max Holbrook. He will either go somewhere in the MAC or Ohio State.”

Right now, the 6’1, 255-lb junior from Pickerington Central does not have any scholarship offers. However, he has put together two impressive seasons at the varsity level and is continuing that this season and as a result, the offers are about to pour in.

“Actually, Northwestern has talking about an offer. I talked to them this [past] weekend and I’ll be going there for the game this [coming] weekend and I think Ohio and Akron are about to offer.”

With his size, there is some thought that Zach may grow into a defensive end at the next level. He also starts at fullback for Central right now, but he says there really is only one spot for him.

“All the schools that came in want me as a linebacker. Michigan said linebacker/fullback, but they’re they only ones who even mentioned fullback, everyone else said just linebacker. I mean, everyone looks at me as a big guy, but after they see my film, they say we’ll recruit you as linebacker. If I move to defensive end, that’s fine, but I want to play linebacker.”

As for the rest of the season, Boren is looking to take a few more visits. This will be made difficult by his own high school season, but there are a couple campuses he knows he will be on in the near future.

“Yeah, going to Northwestern this weekend,” he said, “I know I’m going to two more Ohio State games, I’m going to a Penn State game and my coach has good connections at Georgia Tech, so I might go down there. Shane Bowen, one of our former players down there, but it’s a little too far to travel in the season, so I don’t know yet.”

As for that team in Ann Arbor, Boren has already been to the Big House this year. He was present for the Wolverines’ big 38-0 victory over Notre Dame, which allowed him not only to see the campus again, but reconnect with his big brother Justin.

“Michigan-Notre Dame was good, but I didn’t get to speak to the coaches as much as I wanted. But I got to see Justin which was great. I haven’t seen him much since he can’t come down for my games. So it was cool because I spoke to my brother and got to hang out with him, but really I was expecting more. It was nothing compared to Ohio State.”

Take the family ties, combine that with the way football works in Ohio and you have a situation that might be tough on a youngster like Zach. But right now, it is him more than anyone else that wants to reiterate that his mind is far from made up.

“Yeah, I mean, a lot of the schools that are recruiting me just come in and ask my coach if it’s just Michigan or Ohio State. But right now, I’m actually leaning against Michigan. To tell you the truth, I think it would be cool, starting a different legacy with a Boren going to a different school, so I want to get out to as many schools as I can.”