The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS
Ohio State rolled out the red — ahem, scarlet — carpet for Detroit, Michigan, Cass Tech's Donovan Peoples-Jones, the top-rated wide receiver in the Class of 2017. Notably, Peoples-Jones spent time on the field during warm ups and had a lengthy conversation with Ohio State President Dr. Michael Drake and athletic director Gene Smith.
The 6-foot-2, 192-pounder holds 24 scholarship offers and is considered a Michigan lean, but seemingly had a good time on his second official visit.
Great Visit.. Ohio State did all of the right things. I couldn't have asked for anything more !! #BuckeyeNation
— Donovan P. Jones (@dpeoplesjones) October 9, 2016
The Buckeyes already have two five-star wideouts committed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, St. Thomas Aquinas' Trevon Grimes and Las Vegas, Nevada, Bishop Gorman's Tyjon Lindsey, but would undoubtedly make room for Peoples-Jones if he wanted to play his college ball in Columbus.
Cleveland Heights wide receiver Jaylen Harris, who was also at the game, said coaches have told him the same thing. And put simply, there's not a chance Ohio State would turn down either Peoples-Jones and/or Harris if they wanted to commit.
SHOW ME LOVE
St. Louis Parkway North defensive tackle Michael Thompson was also in attendance for Saturday's game. Ohio State offered the top-rated player in the state of Missouri for the Class of 2018 back in May.
“It was great,” Thompson told Eleven Warriors, noting he spoke with head coach Urban Meyer prior to the game.
The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder has more than 15 scholarship offers from programs such as Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma, but came away more than impressed with Ohio State.
“[They're] among the top,” he said.
THE HEIGHT OF HIS RECRUITMENT
Cleveland Heights defensive end Tyreke Smith joined the aforementioned Harris for an unofficial visit on Saturday. The 6-foot-4, 241-pound junior doesn't yet have an offer from Ohio State, but enjoyed the trip nonetheless.
“It was great,” Smith told Eleven Warriors. “I was very impressed with the defense.”
The Buckeyes are clearly intrigued by Smith, who is currently in his first season of high school football, as Meyer, defensive line coach Larry Johnson, offensive coordinator Ed Warinner and running backs coach Tony Alford all took time to speak with him before the game.
“They all wanted to know if I still have Ohio State high on my list,” Smith said, confirming that he does indeed consider the Buckeyes one of his favorites.
The sixth-best defensive end and the No. 10 player overall in the state for the Class of 2018, Smith has offers from Cincinnati, Maryland, Michigan State, Pen State and Syracuse, among others. Programs such as Clemson, Pitt and Stanford have also shown interest, but he admitted he's already looking forward to another game in Ohio Stadium.
“I will be back for the Michigan game … and maybe another before that,” Smith said.
TO THE END OF THE WORLD FOR HER SON
Standing 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, Lexington two-way lineman Keslyr Hooper was hard to miss as he stood on the sidelines for Ohio State's recent game against Rutgers. He's not ranked by any websites and has only a few highlights online, though, so the high school junior likely went unnoticed by even the most hardcore recruiting junkies.
Had an amazing day at the recruiting visit with my boyz! We love you Ohio State!!! pic.twitter.com/8JDfzx4UIm
— sunnee d (@DSunnee) October 4, 2016
“The visit came up because I'm really interested in playing football in college, and my mom — really interested in wanting to see me succeed — made some calls, “Hooper told Eleven Warriors. “The next thing I know, I have a visit to Ohio State. She said something about them already knowing my name, and I thought that was so cool.”
Ohio State has shown interest in Hooper, visiting his high school and talking to Lexington coaches. The same goes for Akron, Kentucky — of course — and Michigan State, but none have offered the experience that the Buckeyes did last week.
“The trip was amazing,” he said. “It was an unreal feeling to be in that atmosphere.”
