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.
Leigh visiting Oklahoma
In some big, late news just before publication of tonight's Hurry-Up, five-star offensive tackle target Tristan Leigh announced on Twitter that he will be making a visit to Oklahoma this weekend.
Oklahoma this weekend #BoomerSooner @SWiltfong247 @rivalsmike @RivalsFriedman @BrianDohn247 pic.twitter.com/JRuTsaqjOD
— Tristan Leigh (@Leigh71Tristan) December 3, 2020
Leigh will be making the trip on the same weekend as five-star Ohio State receiver target Emeka Egbuka, who confirmed he is visiting Norman for the first time this weekend. It could prove to be a huge weekend for the Sooners and perhaps some bad news for the Buckeyes, as both top-11 overall players are two of their four biggest remaining targets in the 2021 class.
Buckeyes making strong push for Singletary
Jaheim Singletary is a player we haven't talked about a ton at Eleven Warriors, though we did dive into his decision date a bit earlier this week. The five-star cornerback, ranked No. 10 overall in the 2022 class, is going to be making his decision on Jan. 2, choosing between a final four of Ohio State, Florida, Clemson and Georgia.
The Gators are the presumed favorite, and most believe that's where his recruitment is ultimately going to end, but not before Ryan Day, Kerry Coombs and Co. put up a fight.
Singletary, who also has a strong relationship with area recruiter Tony Alford, has talked in the past about how the Buckeyes' iron sharpens iron atmosphere – where future pros are going against future pros on the other side of the ball – is making a strong impression on him, as is the program's propensity for putting defensive backs into the NFL and the ties to Jacksonville the team has in Shaun Wade, Tyreke Johnson and Marcus Crowley.
The offer from the Buckeyes is the one Singletary was really waiting on finally attaining, wrote 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong, and Wiltfong reported that the Buckeyes are making a strong push for the five-star cornerback in the final month before he makes his final decision:
“Ohio State has been in heavy,” a source close to Singletary said. “Mom loves Ohio State. Brother loves Ohio State. He loves Ohio State.
Hafley lands former OSU target
Bryce Steele, a three-star safety out of North Carolina, had originally been set to commit to Ohio State – we were told – in January 2020 before the Buckeyes chose to pursue some other targets at the bullet position a bit harder. Steele subsequently chose to scratch his New Year's Day commitment date and committed to South Carolina four months later.
However, the relationship that Steele formed with Jeff Hafley during Hafley's time as an Ohio State assistant has now paid off for both the former Buckeye target and the former Buckeye coach, as Steele committed to Boston College following a November decommitment from the Gamecocks.
COMMITTED .. @CoachJeffHafley @CoachVoulgaris pic.twitter.com/bcyt0poTVv
— Bryce Steele (@bryce_steele1) December 1, 2020
When we spoke with Steele weeks before the original January commitment date he had set, he told us that he was Hafley and Al Washington were the two coaches he was closest with on the Buckeye staff.
It's just another example of Hafley's reputation as a great recruiter becoming even stronger, as Steele is the Eagles' second-highest ranked recruit in the 2021 class and gives them the No. 10-ranked class in the ACC (in addition to the No. 1-ranked class in the ACC for now in the 2022 cycle). Boston College hasn't finished with a class ranked in the top 10 of its own conference since 2014, and that includes three last-place finishes (aka 14th-place finishes) in a six-cycle span during that time.
As you'll be able to read in our Michigan State Roundtable this week, I believe Hafley is the top guy Michigan should target if it fires Jim Harbaugh or chooses not to renew his contract, so if that happens, we could see Hafley pull out some recruiting wins (similar to that of the Steele victory) out of the state of Ohio down the road.
Lewis decommits, no plans for OSU to recruit
Five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis, the No. 1-ranked inside linebacker in the 2021 cycle, decommitted from Tennessee earlier this week and is back on the market.
Ohio State was once interested in Lewis, but as we had reported back prior to his Vols commitment, the Buckeyes' interest dissipated due to some off-the-field concerns.
There won't be any pursuit of Lewis by the Buckeyes, as LSU commit Raesjon Davis continues to be their focus if they bring in another linebacker to pair with Reid Carrico.
Header photo: Jaheim Singletary – Andrew Ivins/247Sports
