The Hurry Up: Ohio State Targets React to Penn State Loss, Five-Star Says He's 100 Percent Committed and Cornerback Pledge Excited to Enroll Early

By Andrew Lind on October 23, 2016 at 7:15 pm
Jaylen Harris
Jaylen Harris
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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.

ROAR LIONS ROAR

Penn State hosted more than 100 recruits for its annual White Out game on Saturday, including a number of highly rated Ohio State targets. The Nittany Lions' 24-21 win not only impressed those prospects in attendance, but perhaps saved head coach James Franklin's job.

The most notable recruit on the sidelines prior to the game was Cleveland Heights four-star wide receiver Jaylen Harris, who was on his first official visit.

“It was crazy last night,” Harris told Eleven Warriors.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pounder is considered the top-rated wideout in the state for the Class of 2017. He listed both Ohio State and Penn State alongside Alabama, Michigan State and Tennessee in his Top 5 schools in early August.

Harris' teammate, 2018 four-star defensive end Tyreke Smith, also made the trip.

“The atmosphere of the game [was my favorite part],” Smith told Eleven Warriors. “When they blocked the field goal, the fans went crazy … They both went at it and played hard, but Penn State wanted it more.”

The 6-foot-4, 241-pound Smith is considered the sixth-best defensive end and the No. 10 player overall in the state of Ohio for the Class of 2018 but doesn't yet have an offer from either school because this is his first year playing high school football. Nevertheless, both programs have shown significant interest.

“They are high on my list,” Smith said of Penn State. “They've been with me since I started this process and they show a lot of love.”

Another junior defensive lineman, Huber Heights Wayne's Alex Reigelsperger, made the trip to Happy Valley.

"I loved it," Reigelsperger told Eleven Warriors.

Like Smith, the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder hopes his stellar play this season nets him an offer from both schools. But Reigelsperger must wait until after the season, as he said his head coach doesn't like schools to offer scholarships during the season.

Springfield's Moses Douglass is also in a similar situation. The 6-foot, 170-pound sophomore doesn't yet hold an offer from either school, but talks with Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and Penn State cornerbacks coach Terry Smith quite frequently.

“It was a long drive,” Douglass told Eleven Warriors jokingly. “You saw that [the Nittany Lions] were ready to dethrone Ohio State that night. I liked it.”

The win was Penn State's first over a Top 10 opponent since 2008.

“It was great,” Portsmouth East offensive lineman Blaine Scott told Eleven Warriors. “The atmosphere and electricity inside the stadium was insane.”

Scott, who is considered the 14th-best prospect in the state of Ohio for the Class of 2018, holds more than 25 scholarship offers from schools such as Arkansas, Florida, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech.

“The program is filled with tradition and has a great fan base,” Scott said of Penn State. “I really respect and admire what coach Franklin values and what he's about.”

Penn State has also made its presence felt with arguably the best running back in central Ohio, Morgan Ellison. And while Ohio State has seemingly backed off its recruitment of the Pickerington Central star, he said the Nittany Lions reached out to him about three weeks ago.

“[I liked] the environment, great fan base and just how everyone was kind of together,” Ellison told Eleven Warriors.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder rushed for 140 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers' win on Friday, but said he hasn't had any contact with Ohio State in weeks.

“I saw some [of the coaches] last night. They just smiled,” he said.

KEEPING THE TIDE AT BAY

Jacksonville, Florida, Trinity Christian five-star cornerback Shaun Wade is Ohio State's longest-tenured commit, having pledged his services on Jan. 12, 2015, the same day the Buckeyes beat Oregon to capture the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship.

But Wade has continued to look at other schools in the meantime, which is why many prognosticators believe he'll end up flipping to Alabama before National Signing Day.

While the Crimson Tide will remain a legitimate — and, realistically, the only — threat to change Wade's mind, the No. 21 overall recruit in the country told ESPN Recruiting Analyst Derek Tyson he remains 100 percent committed to Ohio State.

Tyson was calling Trinity Christian's 34-21 loss to IMG Academy on Friday night. As mentioned in this morning's edition of the Select '17 Tracker, Wade scored two touchdowns while lined up against future teammates Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson.

READY TO GET STARTED

We caught up with Marcus Williamson following IMG Academy's big win on Friday, at which time he said he'll take an unofficial visit to Ohio State for the Nov. 26 game against Michigan while he's home for Thanksgiving. The Westerville native has scheduled his official visit, meanwhile, for Dec. 9.

“At this point, I've been committed for almost two years,” Williamson told Eleven Warriors. “[The visits are about] getting ready to be a part of the team.”

The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder is considered the fourth-best prospect in the state of Florida and the No. 16 cornerback in the Class of 2017. He committed to Ohio State in April 2015 over offers from Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Williamson, who was named an Under Armour All-American earlier this month, will graduate early from IMG Academy and enroll at Ohio State in January.

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