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.
PRYTS WILL MAKE RETURN TO COLUMBUS THIS WEEKEND
Two weekends ago for Ohio State's spring game, Hermitage, Pennsylvania safety Andrew Pryts made a drive to Columbus with his grandmother. His parents, who he had planned to make that visit with, were unable to make it work that weekend, so the three-star safety went to campus and checked out the university, alone. This coming weekend, the country's 19th-ranked safety and Penn State legacy will return to Columbus, parents in tow. The visit will be a big one for Pryts and the family.
"We're heading there just for Saturday," Pryts told Eleven Warriors. "My parents haven't been up there, so it's just to see the usual stuff. The campus, check on academics, see the facilities and all that good stuff."
Pryts holds a Buckeye offer, as well as offers from many of the country's best programs, including Alabama, Stanford, Michigan State, Michigan and many others. He's a player highly-revered by the Buckeye staff. As noted, his father Ed played for the Nittany Lions in the early 1980s. The 6-foot-1, 199-pounder is at the top of Ohio State's wish list at safety along with New Jersey's Jordan Fuller.
FICKELL HITS UP IMG
Luke Fickell made a stop at Bradenton, Florida's IMG Academy today and checked out a number of big-time prospects. IMG's roster reads like a "Create-A-Team" on NCAA Football '14 and it's a place we should expect to see Ohio State coaches spend a lot of time in the upcoming years. Among the players at IMG with a Buckeye offer? Two players already committed for 2016 (Tyler Gerald and Malik Barrow), a pair of the country's five-star 2016 talents (Saivion Smith and Shavar Manuel), 2016 defensive back Spencer Perry (who holds a Buckeye offer) and 2016 linebacker Jango Glackin.
The 2017 group at IMG includes two players that Ohio State is currently in the lead group for as well, defensive tackle Cam Spence and wide receiver Emmanuel Greene.
The visit to IMG was a big one, but Fickell has been in Florida since Monday, checking out St. Thomas Aquinas' standout group of prospects as well. Nick Bosa, Sam Bruce, Trevon Grimes and 2015 signee Damon Arnette all roam the halls of St. Thomas.
WARINNER BUSY IN NEW JERSEY
Ohio State's Ed Warinner was in New Jersey today and the Buckeyes extended some new offers to a couple different 2017 standouts.
Dalyn Wade-Perry, a monster 6-foot-4, 320-pound defensive tackle from Englewood seemed excited about the new offer.
EXTREMELY BLESSED TO HAVE RECEIVED #10 FROM NATIONAL CHAMPS THE STATE UNIVERSITY #BuckeyeNation pic.twitter.com/IuQJd8GEfy
— Wade-Perry, Dalyn (@DalynWP) May 6, 2015
Wade-Perry hails from Pope John XXIII High School, which should be familiar to Buckeye fans: it's the alma mater of sophomore-to-be wide receiver Noah Brown. Across town in Princeton, the Buckeyes also offered another 2017 defensive tackle, The Hun School's Fred Hansard, who is 6-foot-4 and 310-pounds.
The offers didn't stop at the defensive line, either. Warinner also extended a scholarship offer to New Jersey's top 2017 prospect, offensive lineman Micah Clark. Clark is 6-foot-5, 285-pounds and the country's 10th-ranked offensive tackle in the 2017 class.
I'll try and get a bit of reaction from each of these players soon, but it's clear that Ohio State's recruiting efforts in New Jersey won't be slowing down anytime soon.
MICHIGAN VISIT FOR MACK
Ohio State's top 2016 wide receiver target is Indiana's Austin Mack, who yesterday made a trip to Ann Arbor with his good friend Auston Robertson. Robertson, a defensive end, had been a player many thought would end up in Columbus, but the early decision by Washington, D.C. defensive end Terrell Hall changed the plans at defensive end and now he's looking heavily at Michigan State, Notre Dame and Michigan; three schools Mack has been to a number of times as well.
According to Mack, the visit went very well.
"They rolled out the 'blue carpet' for us," Mack told 11W. "It was a good visit."
Michigan has a commitment from Indiana's third-ranked player, quarterback Brandon Peters, and Mack says they're making a push to try and reel in both Robertson and him, ranked first and second, respectively.
"They talked about that, yeah," Mack said. "It could happen, but it's really about each guy doing what's best for themselves."
