Ohio State defensive lineman Alex Williams has announced he will transfer to Vanderbilt.

Williams, who played high school football at Pickerington North, announced the decision two weeks after he first put his name in the NCAA transfer portal to leaving the Buckeyes.

In two seasons, Williams played sparingly, redshirting in 2018 before appearing in six games last season. He finished with eight tackles.

In a post on his Instagram profile Wednesday night, Williams thanked Ohio State’s coaches, mentioning Ryan Day and defensive line coach Larry Johnson, as well others involved with the program.

"College Football isn’t what you see on the television on Saturdays," Williams wrote, "it is deeper and you will only understand unless you’ve been apart of a group of soldiers like the ones I was with in my past two years of college ball. I wish I could thank you all... you know who you are."

At Pickerington North, he made The Dispatch’s all-Metro team during his senior season in 2017 before signing with Ohio State.

When he joins Vanderbilt, Williams said he also plans to switch uniform numbers from the No. 17 that he wore at Ohio State.

He said in his Instagram post that he will wear No. 8 in honor of Kobe Bryant, the former NBA superstar for the Los Angeles Lakers who with his daughter Gianna were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday near Los Angeles.

jkaufman@dispatch.com

@joeyrkaufman