Five-star running back Cam Akers, less than two weeks away from his third unofficial visit to Ohio State in the last 11 months, has released his Top 10 list and not surprisingly, the Buckeyes made the cut.
As of now these are the teams that I will be taking a closer look at over the next few months #Top10 pic.twitter.com/b31o0mWrPw
— Cam akers (@thereal_cam3) May 25, 2016
The list, in no specific order, helps illustrate the challenges of going down south to recruit some of the nation's highest-profile prospects. The Buckeyes – along with Michigan, ok and maybe Cal – are the only teams above the Mason-Dixon line to make the cut for the Clinton, Mississippi star.
His first visit to Ohio State came last July, when he camped in front of Urban Meyer and Tony Alford during Friday Night Lights, and he was offered by the Buckeyes in September. He returned to Columbus in early March and spent two days visiting with his family, checking out spring practice and at that time Ohio State began to emerge as a serious threat in the recruitment of the country's second-ranked running back.
The Buckeyes currently have two tailbacks committed in their top-ranked 2017 recruiting class. Akron's Todd Sibley, Jr. verballed to Ohio State in April of 2015 and La Grange, Texas' J.K. Dobbins, the country's 47th-ranked overall prospect, did the same in March of this year.
A decision from Akers isn't expected until the end of his senior season and the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder told Scout.com that Ohio State is currently the only official visit he knows he'll take this fall.
"Once I release my top 10, I will focus on my visits coming up, then decide on official visits. The only official visit right now I probably will take is to Ohio State. That is not set in stone yet either though."
To land Akers, Urban Meyer will have to do something that only one other Buckeye coach since 1970 has accomplished: sign a player from Mississippi. John Cooper reeled in tight end Craig Robinson from Lanier High School in Jackson in the 1990 recruiting class.
