Curtis Samuel set to enroll in January
Welcome to another edition of the Ohio State football recruiting notebook. We'll wrap the week up for you and give a preview of what's coming up next.
Ohio State dominated the gridiron again this past week, and a bye this weekend will give the coaching staff a chance to try to do the same on the recruiting trail.
This week was highlighted by a few new scholarship offers, the coaching staff visiting some recruits, and one of the Buckeye's top targets naming his leaders.
This coming weekend, the coaching staff will again be visiting recruits, we'll take a look at where the coaches will be going and who they will be visiting.
Lastly, we'll check in on The Dream 14 as they wrap up their high school regular seasons and begin the playoffs.
Join us after the jump for the latest on Ohio State football recruiting.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
No visitors this week as the Buckeyes were on the road, but recruiting never takes a break. On Monday, Urban Meyer and Ed Warinner took a trip to the New York/New Jersey area to check in on Curtis Samuel and a few other targets.
Things have changed for Buckeyes and Holley
One of those targets they visited was 5-star defensive tackle Thomas Holley. Holley was considered one of Ohio State's top targets, but the coaching staff has now decided to go in a different direction. For whatever reason, they decided that Holley was not a good fit for this class, especially with tight scholarships. Penn State now becomes the favorite to land Holley, so do the Buckeyes need to grab another defensive tackle?
I don't think so, Ohio State actually has good depth at the position with Mike Bennett, Joel Hale, Adolphus Washington, Tommy Schutt, Chris Carter, Donovon Munger and Michael Hill all returning next year and very capable of playing on the interior of the defensive line.
As I mentioned, Meyer and Warinner got a chance to visit Curtis Samuel on Monday as well. While the coaches were in town, Curtis took the opportunity to sign a mid-year agreement with Ohio State. The mid-year agreement is a new interpretation of an NCAA rule that now allows high school seniors intending to graduate early to sign financial paperwork prior to enrolling instead of having to wait until February's signing day. This means that Samuel's scholarship is now guaranteed at Ohio State, and the Buckeyes are now allowed to contact him as much as they would like. The agreement does not bind Samuel to Ohio State however, but it gives Ohio State a huge advantage over schools that may try to get Samuel to flip. Samuel will also be enrolling at Ohio State in January to participate in spring practices.
Lastly, Meyer and Warinner checked in on a trio of 2015 prospects from New Jersey: guard Steven Gonzalez (Union Hill), QB Brandon Wimbush (St. Peter's Prep) and CB Minkah Fitzpatrick (St. Peter's Prep). Gonzalez has Ohio State and Rutgers on the top of his list and plans to visit Ohio State some time in the spring. Brandon Wimbush is one of the Buckeyes top QB targets for 2015, and Ohio State also really likes his teammate, Fitzpatrick. Wimbush and Fitzpatrick visited Ohio State together for the Penn State game and both have Ohio State near the top of their list. Fitzpatrick is favoring three schools right now - Ohio State, South Carolina and Miami (FL) - while Ohio State appears to be the favorite for Wimbush, who will be announcing after this season.
Kerry Coombs and Zach Smith hit the road on Monday as well, recruiting the Georgia and Virginia area's, respectively. Coombs got a chance to spend some time with 2015 wide receiver Davonta Jones and presumably Mike Rogers, while Smith spent the week in Virginia, DC, Maryland and Florida, visiting a bevy of recruits.
One of the players Zach Smith visited was Johnnie Dixon yesterday. Dixon is visiting Alabama this weekend, but right now his recruitment is a Miami-Ohio State battle, and Ohio State actually has a really good shot here. Dixon had a really good visit to Ohio State in September for the Wisconsin game and the Buckeyes could be looking to add another play-maker to this class. Dixon plans to announce his college decision on November 30th.
Speaking of play-makers, one of Ohio State's committed ones appears to be doing a little more looking around. Lonnie Johnson will be visiting Western Michigan next weekend, and also told Birm that he would be visiting Cincinnati and South Florida as well. Again, we won't speculate about what this means for him and Ohio State right now, but it's something to keep an eye on.
The Ohio State coaching staff also used this week to make a few new scholarship offers - four in total. The Buckeyes offered Anthony Wheeler, Kyle Phillips, Kendall Sheffield and Scott Patchan.
Anthony Wheeler is a 2015 4-star outside linebacker/defensive end from Dallas, Texas. One thing that stands out about Wheeler is his speed, he runs a 4.55 40 as a linebacker, and at 6-2 225 he appears to fit the Ryan Shazier mold a bit. Wheeler is going to be pretty tough to reel out of Texas, announcing a top 3 of Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor (in order) about two months ago. Ohio State would love to have Wheeler, but right now it doesn't appear likely unless the Buckeyes can get him to visit Columbus.
Kyle Phillips is 4-star strong-side defensive end from Nashville, Tennessee. Phillips is very athletic for his 6-4 245 pound frame, and also holds offers from Alabama, Clemson, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt among others. Vanderbilt is considered the early leader, though Phillips seems to like Alabama quite a bit as well. Phillips looks to be staying in SEC country.
Kendall Sheffield is a 5-star cornerback from Missouri City Texas with a very impressive offer list that includes Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Baylor. Sheffield has all the tools of an elite cornerback and is ranked as the second-best one in the nation. Sheffield is favoring Texas and Texas A&M, but has also taken unofficial visits to Alabama and Notre Dame. If Sheffield's recruitment shifts more nationally (as it appears to be), the Buckeyes could be a factor here.
Scott Patchan is a 3-star strong-side defensive end from Tampa, Florida. Patchan is incredibly long and athletic, at 6-5, 230 pounds and running a 4.53 40 yard dash reportedly. Patchan also holds offers from Clemson, Miami, Tennessee and North Carolina, among others, but looks to be favoring Miami the most, along with Tennessee and a few other Florida schools.
The last bit of news from this week was Ohio State 2014 offensive-line target Frank Ragnow naming a top six. In no order, his top 6 is Ohio State, Minnesota, Miami, Florida State, Arkansas and Wisconsin. Ragnow will be visiting Minnesota this weekend.
High school football preview
| Position | Player | School | Opponent | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Stephen Collier | Lee County (Ga.) | Bainbridge (Ohio) | Won 55-0. 1 passing TD and 2 rushing TDs. |
| RB | Parris Campbell | St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) | Chagrin Falls Kenston (Ohio) | 130 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries in win to complete undefeated regular season. |
| WR | Terry McLaurin | Cathedral (Ind.) | Anderson (Ind.) | 54 receiving yards, 48 rushing yards, 1 tackle and 1 pass breakup in 35-21 victory. |
| OT | Jamarco Jones | De La Salle (Ill.) | Lake Forest (Ill.) | Won 38-35. |
| OT | Kyle Trout | Lancaster (Ohio) | Season Over | Lost 40-13. |
| OG | Marcelys Jones | Glenville (Ohio) | Lyndhurst Brush (Ohio) | Won 49-24 to complete undefeated regular season. |
| OG | Demetrius Knox | All Saints Episcopal (Texas) | Houston Christian (Texas) | Won 49-27. |
| DE | Jalyn Holmes | Lake Taylor (Va.) | Portsmouth Norcom (Va.) | Won 42-0. |
| DE | Dylan Thompson | Montini Catholic (Ill.) | at Woodstock Marian Central Catholic (Ill.) | Won 43-6. |
| OLB | Kyle Berger | Ignatius (Ohio) | at Canton McKinley (Ohio) | Won 35-14. DNP (ACL). |
| OLB | Dante Booker | St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) | Chagrin Falls Kenston (Ohio) | Won 40-7 to compete undefeated regular season. |
| CB | Damon Webb | Cass Tech (Mich.) | Warren Mott (Mich.) | Won 35-0. Had 3 tackles, 2 pass breakups and caught a TD. |
| S | Malik Hooker | New Castle (Pa.) | Season Over | Lost in first round of playoffs 24-19. Had a 40-yard TD reception. |
| ATH | Noah Brown | Pope John XXIII (N.J.) | Morristown Delbarton (N.J.) | Won 34-0. 36-yard TD catch, 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups. |
| ATH | Sam Hubbard | Moeller (Ohio) | Cincinnati St. Xavier (Ohio) | Won 41-14. Had 10 tackles and a pass breakup. |
| ATH | Lonnie Johnson | West Side (Ind.) | East Chicago Central (Ill.) | Won 46-27. 3 yard TD run. |
| ATH | Curtis Samuel | Erasmus Hall (N.Y.) | Cambria Heights Campus Magnet (N.Y.) | See above. Signed early financial agreement with Ohio State this week. |
| K | Sean Nuernberger | Oldham County (Ky.) | at Louisville Male (Ky.) | Lost 17-15. 4/4 on touchbacks and had a 70-yard punt. |
| OT | Chad Mavety | Nassau C.C. (N.Y.) | ASA College | Urban Meyer will be at his game to watch him play this weekend. |
| DT | Thomas Holley | Abraham Lincoln (N.Y.) | Midwood (N.Y.) | See above, no longer expected to be recruited by Ohio State. |
| DL | Solomon Thomas | Coppell (Texas) | at Lewisville (Texas) | Ohio State-Stanford-Texas battle |
| ILB | Raekwon McMillan | Liberty County (Ga.) | at Academy of Richmond County (Ga.) | Visiting Alabama this weekend, announcing in early December. |
| S | Mike Rogers | Campbell (Smyrna, Ga.) | at North Cobb (Ga.) | Possibly receiving a visit from Kerry Coombs this weekend. |
| S | Erick Smith | Glenville (Ohio) | Lyndhurst Brush (Ohio) | Visited by Urban Meyer today. |
| ATH | Marshon Lattimore | Glenville (Ohio) | Lyndhurst Brush (Ohio) | Visited by Urban Meyer today. |
| ATH | Eric Glover-Williams* | Canton McKinley (Ohio) | Cleveland St. Ignatius (Ohio) | Lost 34-7. 73 rushing yards on 18 carries. |
Looking ahead
The coaching staff will continue to hit the recruiting trail hard this weekend. Urban Meyer has been all over Ohio today, visiting the Glenville trio of Marshon Lattimore, Marcelys Jones and Erick Smith. He also has visited 2015 Akron safety Reggie Rogers, 2017 Massilon QB Danny Clark and 2015 Cleveland athlete Jerome Baker. Meyer and Warinner are also planning on watching Chad Mavety play on Saturday.
We'll have more info on the coach visits as they develop. A few of Ohio State's major targets are taking visits this weekend: Raekwon McMillan and Johnnie Dixon are visiting Alabama and Damian Prince is visiting Maryland this weekend.
As always, you can check out the forums and follow the Eleven Warriors team on twitter for even more info.
