The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
HUGE OFFICIAL VISIT WEEKEND UNDERWAY
Rejoice friends, for the final huge recruiting weekend of 2015 is upon us.
Ohio State is fixing to welcome a bevy of their commitments into Columbus along with three prospects they hope to add to their top-ranked 2016 recruiting class.
By my count, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes will host 14 of their 18 2016 commitments. Which of Ohio State's commitments will be on campus?
- Malik Barrow • Defensive Tackle • IMG Academy (Florida) • ★★★★
- Tuf Borland • Linebacker • Bolingbrook (Illinois) • ★★★★
- Drue Chrisman • Punter • La Salle (Cincinnati) • ★★★
- Jonathon Cooper • Defensive End • Lincoln (Gahanna, Ohio) • ★★★★★
- Gavin Cupp • Offensive Lineman • Leipsic (Ohio) • ★★★
- Luke Farrell • Tight End • Perry (Ohio) • ★★★★
- Tyler Gerald • Offensive Lineman • East (Portsmouth, Ohio) • ★★★★
- Jake Hausmann • Tight End • Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) • ★★★★
- Kierre Hawkins • Athlete • Maple Heights (Ohio) • ★★★★
- Michael Jordan • Offensive Tackle • Plymouth (Canton, Michigan) • ★★★★
- Austin Mack • Wide Receiver • Bishop Luers (Fort Wayne, Indiana) • ★★★★
- Demario McCall • Athlete • North Ridgeville (Ohio) • ★★★★
- Antonio Williams • Running Back • North Stanly (New London, North Carolina) • ★★★★
- Jack Wohlabaugh • Offensive Lineman • Walsh Jesuit (Stow, Ohio) • ★★★
That group will spend their weekend cementing the relationships they've built over the last year-plus, but as important as that segment of the weekend is, the time they'll get to spend with two key targets is vital.
The weekend's three non-committed visitors:
- Donnie Corley, Jr. • Wide Receiver • Martin Luther King (Detroit) • ★★★★
- Dwayne Haskins, Jr. • Quarterback • The Bullis School (Potomac, Maryland) • ★★★★
- Jahsen Wint • Defensive Back • Erasmus Hall (Brooklyn) • ★★★
Eleven Warriors will have updates and news from as many of these visits as possible as the weekend concludes.
BUCKEYES TAKE FINAL SWING ON JACKSON, AUBURN ON THE CLOCK
Last night Urban Meyer and two assistant coaches (Larry Johnson Sr. and Luke Fickell) made their final pitch for 2016 four-star defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson, visiting the 6-foot-2, 285-pound lineman at both his school and his home.
Jackson, who made his official visit to Ohio State Nov. 21, will now travel back to Auburn, where he'll make an official visit with the Tigers this weekend.
Ohio State and Auburn, the top two schools on Jackson's list for months, are both attempting to close the deal with the country's ninth-ranked tackle without having a defensive coordinator officially in place, an interesting side note to one of the more competitive recruiting battles of the entire 2016 cycle.
The Tigers were reportedly close to landing Charles Kelly to fill that role, a position he now holds at Florida State, but it appears that those rumors may end up being just that. The Buckeyes are rumored to be landing former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano as their new defensive coordinator, a move that–if it comes to fruition–will be met with applause by most.
Jackson will make his college decision on Thursday, Dec. 17.
ZACH SMITH – AND NIKE – INVADES ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
Bowl season is an interesting time for Ohio State assistant coaches as they travel back and forth, to and from campus to parts unknown in the search of their next crop of talented players. On Tuesday, Zach Smith was in Las Vegas, on Wednesday he was back in Columbus, yesterday he headed south to Florida and while he was there he basically offered every single prospect that St. Thomas Aquinas has in their school. Smith and the Buckeyes weren't the only ones making the Fort Lauderdale powerhouse a priority.
16 different players for the #StThomasAquinas #Raiders got scholarship offers today! @CoachHarriott @djkhaled pic.twitter.com/hBudlLeiRs
— Sleeper Athletes (@SleeperAthletes) December 10, 2015
So, which new names are coming out of the Raiders' hallways?
- Cody Bowes • 2017 • OL • Highlights
- Nik Bonitto • 2018 • DL • Highlights
- Kivon Bennett • 2017 • DL • Highlights
- Drew White • 2017 • LB • Highlights
- Daniel Carter • 2019 • RB • Highlights
- Anthony Solomon • 2019 • LB • Highlights
Ohio State was joined on campus in Fort Lauderale by the fine folks at Nike, who introduced their new shoe for St. Thomas, the shoe they'll wear for this weekend's state championship game against Viera (Melbourne, Florida).
Here's a closer look at the new Nike shoe that 2017 Buckeye target Trevon Grimes will be wearing this weekend.
High school football isn't what it used to be.
VOTE FOR COOPER
It's never too early to start supporting future Buckeyes and today you've got a chance to give Gahanna Lincoln five-star defensive Jonathon Cooper a little assist.
Cooper is one of the finalists for the National Guard JJHuddle.com Defensive Player of the Year in Ohio, one of seven players honored with the opportunity.
The award allows voters to make as many submissions as they see fit, so if you're bored tonight with some #beverages and just need something to do, stuff the living crap out of this ballot box for Mr. Cooper.
MICHIGAN MEN
As we noted a few months ago when Jim Harbaugh and Michigan were accepting commitments from well, basically everyone, things were bound to change in the Wolverines' class by the time signing day came around. This week the transition from filler players to stars began in earnest in Ann Arbor with the "decommitment" of two three-star prospects. David Reese and Victor Viramontes who committed to Harbaugh during the "we need to fill up the class as early as possible" phase of the Maize and Blue's recruiting program.
Now that Michigan has moved on to the "we can replace you with players we actually like" segment of the show, Reese and Viramontes–each of whom could have ended up at linebacker for the Wolverines–could definitely be replaced in the class quickly by linebackers Jonathon Jones, Devin Bush, Jr. or Dontavious Jackson. For Reese, who committed to Michigan with the intention of enrolling early–something Michigan would not allow–the change is status has been inevitable for some time. Viramontes and his made an unofficial visit to Michigan at the end of November; flying in from California.
The fine folks at MGoBlog.com outlined this pattern of recruiting in Harbaugh's history, so it's definitely not a surprise to see it happening how it is now, although Viramontes, Reese and others (like Matt Falcon) will certainly end up in good situations regardless it's just another example of of the cut-throat way "amateur" sports runs in 2015.
