"At the end of the day, it was a business decision for me": 4-star EDGE London Merritt breaks down his decision to flip to Coach Prime's Colorado

By Kayode Akinwumi

Modified Nov 30, 2024 16:53 GMT

Follow Us

Share

0 Discuss

The impressive recruiting run by Coach Prime and Colorado, which started with the flipping of Julian Lewis from LSU, continued at Thanksgiving with London Merritt.

The four-star edge rusher pledged his commitment to the Buffs while live on the Thursday edition of "Nightcap," hosted by Sharpe Shannon and Chad Ochocinco Johnson. The former Ohio State commit explained what was behind his decision to flip from the Buckeyes to Colorado.

“Well, it was just, you know, the way that Colorado believes in me and then just the consistency from Colorado," Merritt explained. "You know, Ohio State, especially coach Johnson, you know I loved them a lot. But at the end of the day, it was just a business decision for me.

"I had to bet on myself and I felt like it was just a better fit for me and Colorado defense with their staff and everything in that nature. So that's just the main reason why I just decided to go ahead, make a decision with my family and flip over to Colorado.”

London Merritt's switch from Ohio State to Colorado

London Merritt is a four-star defensive end from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes in March over offers from Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina.

However, he withdrew his commitment from Ryan Day's side just a few days ago, before announcing his commitment to Colorado during Thanksgiving.

The new Colorado commit is the No. 13 edge rusher, per 247Sports Composite Rankings. He became the second edge rusher in Ohio State's 2025 recruiting class to abandon their pledge to the Buckeyes following Zahir Mathis’ decommitment earlier. The Buckeyes are left with just an edge rusher in the class, No. 5 edge Zion Grady.

London Merritt's commitment was part of a four-fold announcement on Thursday night that included Merritt's IMG Academy teammate Alexander McPherson, Carde Smith and Quentin Gibson. The announcements were live in Nightcap and came a week after the Buffs landed five-star quarterback Julian Lewis.

Colorado's 2025 recruiting class is now No. 29 nationally according to On3, moving from a previous No. 62 ranking. The climb underscores how important the recent commitments are for the Buffs and Coach Prime.

He had set an expectation for his recruits to become starters from freshman year. He decried stacking up prospects only to have them redshirt as freshmen.

The Buffs have gone from being a bottom-rung program two seasons ago to becoming one of the best teams in college football.