The Hurry Up: The Country's Top Gets a Wanted Buckeye Offer, Looking at Michigan Boys in Ohio, Ohio Guys in Michigan and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on March 14, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Jaylen Kelly-Powell will return to Ohio State
Jaylen Kelly-Powell
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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.

MORE ON MARVIN WILSON OFFER

Earlier today, Ohio State offered the country's top-ranked defensive tackle, Bellaire, Texas' Marvin Wilson, a 6-foot-4, 315-pounder with offers from everyone.

Wilson told 11W that he's long been a fan of Ohio State, but since a freshman-year encounter with Kerry Coombs, who visited Bellaire, he'd not heard from the Buckeyes. With two defensive tackles committed, there's no pressure for Urban Meyer and Larry Johnson to add another tackle immediately, so, when looking at a third in the class it makes absolute sense to shoot for the moon on a player of Wilson's caliber.

So, the offer is extended, the conversations with Larry Johnson, Sr. will begin and the Buckeyes will hope to see Wilson on campus at some point this summer. Ohio State has a commitment from one Texan–JK Dobbins–but it was another Texas star that acted as an intermediary and helped connect the two sides, which got today's conversation got kicked off.

That player?

Jeffrey Okudah.

SPEAKING OF OKUDAH

The country's top-ranked safety, from Grand Prairie, Texas, was one of nine players from Sunday's Dallas The Opening regional camp that earned an invitation to The Opening in July.

Okudah showed his considerable skills all afternoon at Coppell High School.

Okudah told 11W that he's had "15-20" different college coaches reach out to congratulate him on his success this weekend. During the event, he reiterated to media in attendance that he's still feeling Ohio State more than any other school.

JKP, DPJ + OSU = IDK

Last week, I had the chance to catch up with someone who is connected to the Cass Tech football program and we talked a little bit about Ohio State and how the recruitment of two Technican stars, Jaylen Kelly-Powell and Donovan Peoples-Jones, is going for the Buckeyes.

According to the source, things couldn't be going better with Kelly-Powell, the four-star safety ranked as the country's 19th-best safety. 

"His parents really like Ohio State," the source said. "and so does Jaylen. I think people aren't taking them seriously for some reason but I think he wants to be a Buckeye. There are a few schools, like UCLA, Stanford and Duke that are also up there that people aren't paying attention to and of course the Michigan schools."

Kelly-Powell spent the last weekend in California, visiting UCLA and USC, and he'll head back to the West Coast in May to visit Stanford. He'll be on campus again with the Buckeyes on March 26th.

As for Peoples-Jones, the country's top-ranked wide receiver and fifth-ranked overall prospect, Ohio State is still fighting a slew of programs for his attention. 

"Donovan is a different guy," the source said. "I know he likes Ohio State, but there's not any team that it seems he's in love with. He's very private and he wants to handle it all on his own. He's la lot like (Michigan State signee Donnie) Corley in that way."

FOUR BUCKEYE STATE STARS VISIT UP NORTH 

Since 2014, Ohio State has been very active in Michigan and although the Wolverines have stayed out of the Buckeye State in the last two years, it appears Jim Harbaugh and Michigan are working to amend the Ohio-prospect shortage on their roster.

Over this past weekend, four different Ohio recruits visited Ann Arbor, including the Midwest's fastest-rising star and two of the state's top 2018 players.

Amir Riep, the country's 14th-ranked cornerback, made his first trip to Michigan and while the Buckeyes are thought to be the favorite for his services, it'd be unwise to overlook the impact that the Wolverines have inside the Colerain football program. Michigan's best recruiting tactic with Riep may be to highlight the number of defensive backs already committed to Ohio State and that are still interested in the Buckeyes in an attempt to sway Riep with the old "be your own guy" mind-melt. 

Another top 2017 Ohioan, Plain City tight end Trey Pugh, holds a Michigan offer and also made the trip north this weekend. 

"(It was) awesome," Pugh told Eleven Warriors about the visit. "I loved the facilities and business school and I love the way they use the tight end."

Pugh has no Buckeye offer, but the Ohio State staff is hoping to see him on campus this spring and summer and he'll have a chance to earn an offer in person. Coming off a torn ACL, it will be interesting to see if Michigan really pushes for Pugh. They'll be hosting Texas commit Major Tennison during their spring game and he appears to be higher on their priority board right now than Pugh.

The Springfield, Ohio duo of Antwuan Johnson and Leonard Taylor traveled to Michigan as well. The 2018 teammates are each Top 100 players in their class but Taylor, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive end who is Ohio's second-ranked player, is the key here. The Buckeyes have not yet offered either player as Michigan and Harbaugh hope to swoop in and steal the talented pair by capitalizing on the early relationship building.

FLORIDA 2018 ATHLETE MILES JONES LIKES BUCKEYES EARLY

Ohio State's 2017 recruiting class is, at the least, 60-percent full–and with that they're able to start looking ahead to 2018 a bit more than most teams. While they do not yet have a commitment in that class, a handful of players from around the country are hoping to start getting some Scarlet and Gray-clad love. Fort Lauderdale (American Heritage) athlete Miles Jones is one of those young prospects. He says Ohio State is high on his list and he's hoping to start hearing from them.

"Ohio State is on my top five list," Jones, 5-foot-10 and 165-pounds, told Eleven Warriors. "I have one offer so far, from Mississippi State. My trainer, Arturo Freeman, is helping me get my name out there."

American Heritage, the alma mater of Buckeyes' redshirt freshman wide receiver Torrance Gibson, is loaded with NFL connections on their coaching staff and that's one of the reasons that Jones transferred from St. Thomas Aquinas to Heritage following his freshman season. Like Arturo Freeman, Pat Surtain–the head coach for the Patriots–is a former Miami Dolphin. The connection with Gibson and the desire to surround himself with a higher level of competition are just a few of the reasons Jones likes the Buckeyes.

"I like being associated with the best teams out there," Jones said. "I know people that go to Ohio State, like Torrance Gibson. I played with Nick Bosa and Damon Arnette, too."

As he mentioned, recruiting is just getting started for Jones. He's signed up for a one-day camp at Ohio State on June 17th and will stop in Columbus before he heads to Michigan State on June 22nd. 

"I've been hearing from Michigan State and Kentucky," he said when asked who, outside of Mississippi State, has been in contact. "(Michigan State) wants me to come to their camp and I signed up for camp at West Virginia and Michigan State."

One of the underclassmen selected as a top performer at a recent Rivals.com camp in Miami, Jones surprised those in attendance with his physical nature despite his diminutive stature.

Performance: Despite weighing in at just 166 pounds, Jones was one of the most physical receivers in attendance. He will need to keep adding weight to his rather slight frame, but he clearly has a nice set of skills.

He says he'll play wide receiver, running back or any other position to get himself on the field and did so in Miami.

"I decided to work with the receivers at Rivals instead of running backs," Jones sad. "I wanted to work on routes and catching. I went 8-for-10 in my reps and went up against some of the best defensive backs in South Florida. I'm an athlete. I like offense and fighting to get to the end zone."

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