The Hurry Up: Wesson Making Decision Tomorrow, Spring Game Absences, Sermon's Top Six

WESSON DECIDING WEDNESDAY

It was a busy Tuesday for the future of the Ohio State basketball program.

First, Eastern Florida State College 2016 point guard CJ Jackson chose Ohio State over Missouri, UConn and others, helping provide some stability to an attrition-devastated backcourt. Then, the reported soon-to-be hiring of Chris Jent seemed to inject a bit of much-needed new blood into Thad Matta's program.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Westerville South's Andre Wesson, a 2016 wing recently offered by the Buckeyes, would make his college decision on Wednesday afternoon.

.@SouthBasketball's @wesson_andre5 will announce college decision Wednesday at 2:15 p.m.

— Frank DiRenna (@ThisWeekFrank) April 12, 2016

If you've followed recruiting even a little bit you know that anything can happen on any given day and Wednesday can go a number of different ways, but it seems that Wesson to Ohio State would be a no-brainer, right?

His dad, Keith, played at Ohio State. His brother Kaleb, a teammate at South, is one of the country's top 2017 players and is committed to the Buckeyes. Wesson is a Buckeye, through and through and has dreamed his whole life of putting on the Scarlet and Gray. The big roster changes in Columbus give the opportunity to make a lifelong dream come true.

But...

Ohio State only offered Wesson three weeks ago and other teams have worked long and hard to show him, from the start, their need and want for his services. Richmond is one place to seriously watch, according to sources, as the Spiders have shown a lot of "love" for months.

Just stopped by campus randomly, and damn. An impromptu #WessonWatch gathering was underway. #OneRichmond pic.twitter.com/MmFc3Y3hGN

— General Bitey (@generalbitey) April 12, 2016

Wesson visited Butler recently, and the Bulldogs have offered and have a unique blend of big-city familiarity with a mid-major feel that could help him grow as a person and a player away from the pressures and expectations of playing "at home."

So, what's expected Wednesday? Literally anything.

It is not easy to consider being a high school student in today's world making this big of a decision. Those who have talked to Wesson indicate that he's a bit stressed out about his choice. 

Stay tuned.

NO GRIMES, OKUDAH, WADE(S) THIS WEEKEND

Ohio State's spring game is this weekend and a number of highly-ranked prospects will visit Columbus as the Buckeyes look to put on a show for fans and recruits.

Four of the country's top six players are expected to be in Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

Najee Harris, the country's top-ranked 2017 recruit will be on hand, as will commitment Josh Myers, the third-ranked player and Donovan Peoples-Jones, the country's fifth-ranked player and finally, No. 6 Darnay Holmes.

That group is going to be among the best gathered at any school in the country at one time this spring, but it's a quartet of players who've been at the top of the Ohio State list a long time who aren't going to be in Columbus that fans are going to pay attention to, because, well, it's fun to freak out.

Who won't be there? 

Trevon Grimes, Jeffrey Okudah, Lamont Wade and commitment Shaun Wade, but there's no reason for Ohio State fans to read too much into any of the absences.

Grimes, as we've discussed, hasn't been to Columbus in almost two years, yet the relationships with the Buckeyes' staff keeps them at the top of his list as Florida, Florida State and others make a push to overtake them. Ohio State got "good" news last weekend when Grimes went to Florida State's spring game rather than Florida's, but they will need to get him on campus again soon if they want to cement their positioning.

Okudah has tried to get himself back to Ohio State since last summer–he had a death in his family that stopped a planned November visit–and insists he'll be back soon though it won't be this weekend despite his efforts. The Buckeyes remain the team to beat but with out-of-state players from thousands of miles away, the challenge of distance is hard to overcome.

Lamont Wade, a Rivals.com five-star prospect, has been to Columbus a dozen times and will be back next month for an extended weekend. However, he can't make it to town this weekend. The cornerback has had Ohio State at the top of his list for a long time but lately Tennessee, Penn State, Pitt and others have become a bigger threat, aided by some questions about whether or not the Buckeyes have an early-enrollee spot available for him. 

Shaun Wade is another player that Ohio State would love to get back on campus soon. He's most recent visit was last summer, and it has helped keep him in the fold since but as he's made repeated visits to other schools and not been able to see the Buckeyes, people's hands are wringing. He's a very good prep basketball player on a very good prep basketball team and this weekend the well-traveled five-star will be in New York according to his father.

Bottom line?

There are going to be plenty of big names on campus this weekend so try not to spend too much time lamenting who won't be there.

SERMON'S TOP SIX COULD BE GOOD NEWS FOR OHIO STATE

It's been discussed pretty regularly that the Buckeyes' 2017 class has some potential issues, numbers-wise. They've recruited hard despite the challenges they're facing and, with two running backs already committed, they've continued to talk with a few others at the position including the aforementioned Najee Harris, who is committed to Alabama. One player they were, at one time, very high on the list of was Marietta, Georgia's Trey Sermon, who released his top six schools Tuesday on Twitter but did not include Ohio State, despite multiple trips to Columbus.

Shout out to @MikesGraffix for the edit #Top6 pic.twitter.com/x49AsBHE4a

— Trey Sermon (@treyera) April 12, 2016

Sermon not including the Buckeyes can be taken as a good or bad thing. Clearly a player of his magnitude isn't going to chase after a school that has two pledges at his position, so you don't blame him for looking elsewhere. 

If the Buckeyes choose to keep recruiting the position, they are going to be extremely focused on one or two major fish ––  homerun types. That includes Najee Harris, but also Mississippi's Cam Akers, who Tuesday was bumped to five-star status by Scout.com following a huge performance at Nike's The Opening regional camp this past weekend in New Orleans.

The day after prom . #MSgrind Shoutout to @_DHodges pic.twitter.com/CdF8THbhXA

— Cam akers (@thereal_cam3) April 10, 2016

That's a blazing 4.44 in the 40 for the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Akers, by the way. Ohio State has to feel good about their positioning with players like Akers–and their security in the commitments they have–to be able to, in essence, stop recruiting Sermon, the country's ninth-ranked running back.

You can't take them all, even though Tony Alford would certainly love to do so.