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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.

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“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.

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This article from the Chicago tribune and Columbus Dispatch is appalling. Sex offenders really piss me off ruining lives. It is a damn shame.

Alex Anzalone, a linebacker from Wyomissing, Pa., who had committed to the Ohio State 2013 recruiting class, changed his mind yesterday after learning that an OSU fan he encountered in Columbus two weeks ago is a registered sex offender.

Anzalone was vague about exactly why he decommitted, but his father made it clear that it was partly related to the encounter with Ohio State fan Charles Eric Waugh of Ashland, Ky., the weekend of the spring game.

Waugh, 31, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to possession of materials portraying sexual performances by minors and is on the Kentucky sex-offender registry, had his picture taken with Anzalone and two other recruits. The photo later appeared online.

“I had to do what is best for me and my family,” Anzalone texted The Dispatch.

Asked whether the encounter with Waugh played a role in his decision, he responded, “Somewhat (but) not the main reasons.”

Pressed further, he responded, “I don’t wanna say. Sorry.”

His father, Sal, was more specific in an interview with the Reading (Pa.) Eagle. He said that Alex started expressing concerns about Ohio State after returning, and the tipping point was when they saw the photo online. It made Sal question how well his son was supervised during the visit.

“You don’t want your son to go to a place where there’s a potential issue (like this),” Sal Anzalone said. “You expect the (football) staff to have some sort of control on how things are handled with recruits when they visit. This is ridiculous.

“I was concerned with what recruits do, and with them being allowed to visit these kind of places where it puts kids at risk. That’s the issue. You entrust people to do the right thing.”

Yesterday, Ohio State officials emailed and texted current and prospective student-athletes and advised them to block Waugh on social-media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The email included a link to a 2008 newspaper article when Waugh pleaded guilty.

An athletic department spokesman said Waugh is not associated with Ohio State or the athletic department and, because of that, there are no potential NCAA rules violations.

“Ohio State will continue to monitor this issue and it will remain proactive with its efforts in regard to precautions taken on behalf of its student-athletes,” the spokesman said.

In the photo with Anzalone was defensive line recruit Joey Bosa of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He said that Waugh had contacted him on Twitter but that he was not reconsidering his commitment.

Anzalone and Bosa committed to Ohio State and first-year coach Urban Meyer in the days after the spring game, along with defensive end/linebacker Lewis Neal of Wilson, N.C. Neal has since decommitted, too, but because he later received an offer from LSU.

Anzalone was highly recruited before he selected the Buckeyes, and now he can consider offers from more than 30 schools, including Penn State, Alabama, Florida and Notre Dame.

Sal Anzalone said he did not think Meyer or his staff were aware of Waugh, but he was still upset.

“Of course,” he said. “Who wouldn’t be? I’m outraged.”

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