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.
KAREEM TALKING THE TALK AND WALKING THE WALK
A year ago, the 2015 recruiting class was struggling along, sitting on two commitments and without any sort of vocal leader leading the way. Ironically, it's a catch-22 sort of thing: players who commit early are usually the players who are less likely to seek out the fanfare and noise that comes with recruiting. The players who are less likely to want the attention are also the ones least likely to try and influence others by actively recruiting for their class. Kareem Walker is trying to make sure that isn't the case for 2016. Last week he took to Twitter to let people know he's been working on getting to know his future classmates.
Spoke to most of the guys in my class today. #Buckeyes
— AlightyReem (@_KareemWalker) February 18, 2015
By that, Walker was referring to the Buckeyes' five other commitments. He's making an effort to get to know those guys early, realizing how a closeness in their class leads to more cohesion in their early careers. He's also taken to social media to try and recruit others.
@NateCraig2016 dm yo number bro.
— AlightyReem (@_KareemWalker) February 20, 2015
That was a message to five-star wide receiver and Auburn commitment Nate Craig-Myers. Walker didn't start there though, earlier in the week he had tried to remind quarterback Jarrett Guarantano that Ohio State was the place for him as well.
@Guarantano18 Throw Back ! pic.twitter.com/9TbtaOwzZZ
— AlightyReem (@_KareemWalker) February 20, 2015
Welcome to 2016 where your class gets built on social media and right now, it's Kareem Walker – the nation's top-ranked running back – leading the charge for the Buckeyes.
TERRELL HALL GETS BIG RANKINGS BOOST, PLANNING RETURN TO OHIO STATE
When he visited Ohio State last month, Washington, D.C. defensive end Terrell Hall was a three-star prospect with an offer list that suggested a big bump in the national rankings was coming. This weekend, the 6-foot-5, 250 pounder got just that, moving up to the 40th-overall player in the country on 247Sports.com and the 139th-ranked player in the composite rankings. Hall is thrilled with the boost but says he's got a lot of work to do.
"It's definitely a blessing," Hall told Eleven Warriors. "But I'm not going to be satisfied until I'm the number one player in the country."
Hall's goals are lofty and he's not shy about where and what he thinks he can improve on.
"Everything can be improved," he said. "I would say it was a need to get bigger, but I've been getting bigger, stronger and faster. I can always get better."
Ohio State's Larry Johnson, Sr. continues to recruit Hall and he says he'll be back in Columbus this spring.
"I'll be coming there for a spring practice," Hall added. "I'm not sure when yet though."
BRANDON BURTON, NAQUAN JONES TALK OHIO STATE OFFER
Despite an off weekend for the most part, two new Buckeye offers went out, both via defensive coordinator Chris Ash. First, it was Evanston, Illinois defensive tackle Naquan Jones. Jones is a three-star tackle at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds and has picked up recent offers from Michigan, Michigan State, South Carolina and more.
"I'm definitely considering going there for a visit," Jones said of Ohio State. "They were recruiting me for a while during the season and then stopped, but they've told me they've been very interested."
The second new weekend offer went all the way out to Los Angeles and Serra High School's Brandon Burton, a four-star safety and the country's 76th-ranked overall player. The offer from Ohio State was Burton's 16th, and he says it holds a special meaning.
"I've been talking with Ohio State for a couple months," Burton said. "It's big time to have an offer from the national champions."
Burton is close with Keyshawn Johnson, Jr. and his father, and he says he'd like to make a trip to Columbus as soon as possible.
DON'T SLEEP ON HAWKINS
One of the earlier commitments in the 2016 class, Kierre Hawkins from Maple Heights, Ohio isn't getting the attention that others in his class are. There are people inside of the Buckeye football program who don't really understand why.
"I don't know if it's his ranking or what but people don't talk about Kierre at all," a source at Ohio State said. "He's 6-foot-4. He's 210 pounds and he's a really good athlete. People are not giving him enough attention."
Hawkins is the country's 283rd-ranked player and 51st-ranked wide receiver, but he's likely to line up positionally the way sophomore-to-be Noah Brown does for the Buckeyes. He's got potential the Ohio State staff is excited about.
"We are really looking forward to seeing him develop this summer and into his senior year," the source continued. "He's going to surprise some people."
