Report: LB still considering Ohio State

A highly touted Pennsylvania high school linebacker is still considering Ohio State after scrapping his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes when he learned a fan he met during a visit to the campus was a registered sex offender.

According to the Reading Eagle (Pa.), Sal Anzalone, father of Alex Anzalone, said the family wants to take a step back from the situation after the story made national headlines over the weekend.

"With all the craziness, we want to slow down the process, calm it down a little bit," Sal Anzalone said. "There's no reason we wouldn't consider the Buckeyes. We love Ohio State. The academic opportunities there are tremendous."

He also maintained he has no issue with the university or football coach Urban Meyer, saying he only had a problem with how his son's visit to the school played out.

Anzalone, a four-star prospect from Wyomissing, Pa., changed his mind Friday night upon realizing he had taken a picture with 31-year-old Charles Eric Waugh, a Buckeye fan who is also a registered sex offender.

Waugh, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to five counts of possession of materials portraying sexual performances by minors, posted the photos of himself with Anzalone and two other recruits on Twitter while reaching out to OSU players and recruits via social media.

Waugh, a resident of Ashland, Ky., is listed on the state's sex-offender registry.

Ohio State issued a statement shortly thereafter, saying Waugh is not associated with the university and is not a football booster. The school said it took "proactive precautions" to alert all of its student-athletes about Waugh.