Welcome to The Hurry-Up, which runs Sunday through Thursday, serving as your last stop for recruiting news and notes nightly. We'll recap the day as it happened and preview the days ahead while keeping our ear to the ground on the Ohio State recruiting scene.
ACCOLADES FOR CONNER
Linebacker Nick Conner, who committed to Ohio State in mid-June, became the latest Buckeye commitment honored with an invitation to a post-season All-American game. This morning, Conner was invited to the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, which takes place in January in California.
Congrats to 2015 #OhioState commit LB Nick Conner on his invite to the Semper Fi All-American Bowl. @NickConner11 pic.twitter.com/EW5QYFywny
— Coach Warren VPreps (@DemetricDWarren) September 4, 2014
The 6-foot-3, 225 pound linebacker from Dublin has skyrocketed up the recruiting rankings after a very strong summer on the camp tours, including an outstanding Rivals.com camp in Baltimore, where he was named the MVP at the linebacker position.
FIGHTING (THE) IRISH
As announced by the two schools earlier today, Ohio State and Notre Dame will renew their rivalry with a home-and-home series sometime in the next, oh, 10 years or so. Although the on-field battle needed a renewal, the two traditional midwest powers are becoming more and more familiar with one another in the living rooms of high school prospects all around the region.
Even this weekend, with each school hosting a marquee, under-the-lights contest, has become a head-to-head battle between Brian Kelly's recruiting efforts and Urban Meyer's. Granted, the Notre Dame home game against Michigan might be a better draw to the average college football fan, and because of that the number of big-time talents in South Bend will actually outnumber the number in Columbus. The Buckeyes still have other premiere games, including a night game against Cincinnati and the home game against Michigan to finish the regular season, but there are a number of players at Notre Dame this weekend who the Buckeyes would have loved to bring to Ohio.
Buckeye targets like 2016 wide receiver Austin Mack, linemen Ben Bredson and Tommy Kraemer, tight end Jake Hausmann, defensive linemen Prince Sammons and Josh King, linebacker Ethan Tucky, and top-ranked 2017 offensive lineman Josh Myers, from Ohio, are all visiting Notre Dame this weekend in lieu of making a trip to Columbus. The Buckeyes are focusing more on their 2015 class this weekend it seems, but that's an incredible list of visitors making their way to Notre Dame.
GUSTIN THINKING CINCINNATI OR ILLINOIS?
Another top prospect visiting Notre Dame this weekend is 2015 defensive end/linebacker star Porter Gustin from Salem, Utah. The nation's 6th-ranked linebacker is currently 100-percent predicted to USC but he insists that he's taking his time in the recruiting process and is open to all of the schools he's planning on visiting. One of those schools is and remains Ohio State.
"I'm really excited about the Notre Dame visit," Gustin told Eleven Warriors. "I've also been talking to Ohio State a lot. I haven't made a decision on an official visit date yet (with the Buckeyes) but I'm close."
As for when?
"I'm hoping it will be in September," he added. "I'm looking into the Cincinnati game, and if that can't work out then either Rutgers or Illinois games are a possibility."
BREDESON BUILDING GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH WARINNER
As far Ohio State's 2016 offensive line recruiting goes, the two names at the top of the list are both Ohioans, the aforementioned Tommy Kraemer and Cleveland's Liam Eichenberg. Ben Bredson, the country's 5th-ranked offensive tackle from Hartland, Wisconsin, is often overlooked as a possibility because of the Buckeyes focus in-state. Bredeson says he and Ohio State's offensive line coach, Ed Warinner, speak regularly and he remains very interested in the Buckeyes.
"I actually just talked to (Ohio State) last night," Bredeson told 11W. "My relationship with Ed Warinner is great, we talk all the time, and we get along very well. They want me to visit this fall and I will try and make a game because they're a big school for me on my list."
Bredeson was at Michigan for their "BBQ at the Big House" in July and as mentioned will be at Notre Dame this weekend, so he's not adverse to a bit of a drive to visit the schools he's most interested in. The edge in his recruitment? Maybe to the Wolverines, who have his brother Jack committed to play baseball in Ann Arbor.
ORDWAY STILL THINKING ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes have a handful of defensive backs committed in 2015 and because of that are being very selective about the "last" player they'd like to take at the position this February. One of the key targets, Pennsylvania's Jordan Whitehead, will visit this weekend, another possibility, Tennessee's Cameron Ordway, is still hoping to get to Columbus himself. If his name is one you've not heard in a while, then the country's 25th-ranked and four-star cornerback's plan is working.
"I really wanted to just focus on my team and our season," Ordway shared with 11W. "I still talk to Ohio State's Tim Hinton, we talked the other day, actually."
What was the conversation?
"He said he wants me to come up for a game still," he added. "I plan on being there either for Cincinnati or for Michigan. Ohio State is still pretty high on my list and I want to make sure I visit there."
Ordway has offers from Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Penn State and a number of others.
Texas Two-Step?
The coaching staff was out on the recruiting trail again last night offering two Texas prospects. Class of 2016 wide receiver Devin Duvernay was offered, as was 2016 quarterback Tristen Wallace. Two of the best players in Texas for 2016, both have connections to Ohio State. Duvernay is the teammate of Buckeye target Jared Mayden, who visited the Buckeyes this summer. Wallace, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound dual-threat quarterback is a former teammate of current Buckeye Dontre Wilson.
Michael Rockstedt caught up with both Devin Duvernay and Tristen Wallace and got their reactions to being offered by the Buckeyes. Check them out here (Duvernay) and here (Wallace).
