Charlotte Wilder gets the five-star recruit treatment during Ohio State tour

By Charlotte Wilder
FOX Sports Columnist

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Most of us mere mortals have no idea what it’s like to be sought after as a five-star recruit. 

Unless you are unbelievably good at sports at the age when most of us can barely pass our driver’s license test, you don’t know the rush of having grown adults vie for your attention and commitment.

The closest I ever came to athletic glory was winning an honorable mention in my high school league because I was decent at hitting home runs in softball, and I once threw someone out at home plate from center field (now I’m just bragging, sorry).

Let’s put it this way: No one ever begged me to do anything involving sports except to stop tweeting about Aaron Rodgers' girlfriend.

But on Thursday, all that changed.

As part of the Dos Equis Ultimate College Football Road Trip this week, the head coach of Ohio State’s men’s basketball team, Chris Holtmann, and one of the Buckeyes' star players, Kyle Young, spent an hour trying to convince me to commit to OSU. 

Sure, they wanted me only as a fan. But still. 

They took me on a recruiting visit, and for someone who historically has not been super well-versed in the nitty-gritty of college recruiting, it was a very cool look behind the curtain. 

We walked around the practice gym, where I once again realized that for some reason I have a mental block when trying to play basketball, as I publicly embarrassed myself in front of a former Ohio State assistant coach who now works with the Brooklyn Nets. 

We visited the weight room, where I bench-pressed 350 pounds five times without even sweating. 

Holtmann and Young also showed me the locker room. It’s very intimidating — there are chains on the wall when you go up the stairs from the locker room to the gym. There’s a grit to the exposed concrete. I joked about it in the video, but every sign seems to have a light behind it so that it shimmers and casts dramatic shadows.

There are displays of LeBron’s various Nike designs through the years, each shoe perched on its own glowing, red pedestal. There are massive photos paying tribute to Ohio State greats who are now in the WNBA and NBA. Each picture glows, lit from within, so that it illuminates the faces of players who gave everything they have to the game of basketball.

The halls and gyms are named after Ohio State greats such as Evan Turner and the Utah Jazz’s Mike Conley, who’ve both given back to the program significantly. In fact, Conley was working out in the gym when I was touring the building. Which was funny because as part of my "recruiting trip," the athletic department dressed me up in an Ohio State uniform — including size-15 shoes — and conducted an official photoshoot. 

As I was walking through the building, I passed Conley, who had just finished working out.

There is nothing quite as humbling as walking by a very successful and famous athlete while wearing essentially clown shoes.  

The photoshoot made me realize how significant these trips really are. Kids get to see themselves in the uniform of a program that can change the trajectory of their lives. They are being photographed and put in a spotlight that — if it all works out — will only grow brighter and bigger.

The whole experience and the majesty of the building blew me away: The facilities have a gravitas to them. It’s easy to clown on the recruiting process. Adults are basically courting teenagers, begging them to spend the next one-to-four years at their school. Some people lament the amount of money spent on athletics or say the process has gotten out of hand, and when guys such as Jim Harbaugh are sleeping over at recruits' houses, well, I have to agree.

But what struck me about my time at the Schottenstein Center is that I’ve never been in a facility so geared toward the future. Everything in that locker room, in that practice gym, in that arena, it’s all meant to set up students and the program for success. 

That’s what all of this is. It’s a promise to kids who have given their whole lives to a sport: If you come here, we will help you be great. No, not everyone is going to make it to the NBA or WNBA. But schools such as Ohio State will try to help them reach their potential.

Holtmann and Young were willing to go along with my dumb jokes and humor my questions about the NCAA tournament first-round loss to Oral Roberts. (Apparently it was my fault, as I hadn’t yet committed to be an Ohio State fan.)

But after spending a lot of time with people who are so passionate about their school and their program — and happen to win a lot — I had no choice but to promise that for the next week, including Saturday's huge football game against Oregon (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App), I’m part of Buckeye Nation. 

Then next week, we’ll travel to Oklahoma, and for a weekend, I will most likely become the biggest Sooner fan who has ever walked the earth. 

But for now: GO BUCKS!

Charlotte Wilder is a general columnist and cohost of "The People's Sports Podcast" for FOX Sports. She's honored to represent the constantly neglected Boston area in sports media, loves talking to sports fans about their feelings and is happiest eating a hotdog in a ballpark or nachos in a stadium. Follow her on Twitter @TheWilderThings.