High school football: Wayne’s Aamil Wagner weighing college options

One of state’s top players took five official college visits in June

Wayne offensive tackle Aamil Wagner wanted to make the most of the June recruiting window by taking all of his five allotted official visits.

By seeing Ohio State, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Maryland and Penn State, he accomplished just that.

Now comes the hard part: Figuring out which school is the best choice for him.

“Every university I went to blew me away in its own way,” he said this week.

“All five schools made a great impression on me, and I was really excited to go up there and meet the coaches, see the university, and just get a chance to dig in deeper to the programs.”

The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Wagner is a four-star prospect and the No. 3 player in the state of Ohio according to 247Sports Composite rankings for the class of 2022.

Although a decision is not expected to be made until the fall, he has plenty to think about.

“After every visit my parents and my siblings pretty much sat down with me and said just tell us what you like and didn’t like about the visit,” he said. “There’s not much you can’t like about each visit because every school kind of rolled out the red carpet and gave us the best performance they could.”

Every school Wagner saw found a way to stand out.

He already had some familiarity with Kentucky because his brother Ahmad played receiver for the Wildcats for two seasons.

On his trip to Lexington, Wagner reconnected with head coach Mark Stoops and associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow while also getting to meet offensive coordinator Liam Coen and offensive line coach Eric Wolford.

“It was kind of funny because coach Wolf coached my current O-line coach so he already had great recognition of what I was learning going into it and I enjoyed being around him and having him grade my film,” Wagner said.

At Notre Dame, Wayne alumnus Marcus Freeman is the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, and Wagner got to meet offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.

“They’re really high on academics there, and I got a chance to talk to multiple people in the academic field and they stressed that,” Wagner said. “I think my parents appreciated that because they’re really academic people. They also did a great job showing the history and the national championships they have won and the O-linemen they have produced.”

Maryland intrigued Wagner because of the business opportunities it could provide being in close proximity to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., as well as because the school has a Black president (Darryll J. Pines), Black athletic director (Damon Evans), Black head coach (Mike Locksley) and Black offensive line coach (Brian Braswell).

“They opened my eyes up to how good an academic school they were,” he said. “Obviously I knew they were high end, but some of the programs they showed me could really set me up for a good life in football or off the field.”

At Penn State, Wagner said he enjoyed getting to know head coach James Franklin better and was surprised at how small State College is.

“Overall it was a fun experienced,” Wagner said. “It reminded me of a small-town experience, which I like.

“I think Coach Franklin is a great coach, and he’s really active in terms of recruiting and being engaged with the players.”

Wagner felt Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein was one of the most intelligent offensive line coaches he has met and enjoyed going through game planning and blocking techniques with him.

He also said Franklin stressed the possibility of getting not only an undergrad degree but a Master’s at Penn State.

“He said, ‘We want our guys to stay and get educated, and if it works out for them it’s a great experience, and if it doesn’t they have a great education to fall back on,’ which I really appreciated.”

Then there’s Ohio State.

Wagner acknowledge the Buckeyes have something of a home-field advantage in multiple ways.

Not only is the campus closest to home, it’s one closely associated with Wagner’s high school program.

The Buckeyes had at least one Warrior on the roster every year from 2000-2019, and one of those players is back at Wayne as a member of the coaching staff.

“Definitely I think I knew a lot about Ohio State obviously,” Wagner said. “Ohio State is the in-state team, and they’re obviously one of the best in the nation, which gives you a boost.”

He grew up watching Wayne alum Braxton Miller star at quarterback for the Buckeyes, and now he is in frequent contact with another former Warrior/Buckeye.

That would be Robert “BB” Landers, a defensive lineman who graduated from Wayne and wore the Scarlet and Gray from 2015-19.

“To have him in my ear is kind of a big thing because he’s obviously always recruiting Ohio State especially since I came back from my visits,” Wagner said. “He’s always talking about ‘Ohio State this and that’ which helps a lot since that is someone who can speak from experience and has been through the program.”

On his visit to Ohio State, Wagner said the recruiting pitch came not only from the football team but also the business school.

“Ohio State did a great job of kind of showing me the excellence and the tradition they have of putting guys in the league, and they also had me sit down with the dean of the business school to show me both sides, academics and football, so I appreciated that,” Wagner said.

“I think moving forward as far as a decision, I think I’m going to go to some game days and see the offense and how the coaches are on the field and how the O-line coaches coach in the moment,” he added. “After that, hopefully I can evaluate those games and make the best decision off that.”

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