The long commitment drought is finally over, leaving everyone wondering "who's next?" One popular prediction is four-star Elijah Taylor, who plans to announce his choice by the end of June. In a recent message, Taylor said he is unsure if he will attend the Nike Football Training Camp at Ohio State.
Let's continue with the recruiting talk in this week's recruiting notebook.
Utah Lineman Has Ohio State Connection
Despite his Utah connections, Urban Meyer rarely sends his assistant coaches to the Beehive State on a recruiting trip. Even so, offensive line coach Ed Warinner went there to see three-star offensive lineman Branden Bowen a few weeks ago.
The 6-foot-7, 330-pound Utah native has offers from Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Oregon State, Utah, Utah State and Washington State. Bowen's only two crystal ball selections have him headed to Utah.
The lineman has heard plenty from the Buckeyes coaching staff, and he can claim a unique connection to Urban Meyer.
"My trainer played for Urban at Utah," Bowen told Eleven Warriors. "My trainer has been on the phone with Urban about me around four times now."
"They told my coach, trainer, and me they want to get me on campus to talk to Urban face-to-face and then they'll offer me."
Bowen, who plans to visit Ohio State in the third week of June, could soon be in line for a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes.
It's still early in the recruiting process, so Bowen currently claims no favorites or top school lists. At this point, he is just feeling out the interested schools to see where he fits the best.
The Buckeyes have a shot with an offer since his trainer is a big supporter of Meyer. As Bowen says, his trainer preaches that Meyer is the best coach in college football. When asked if the Buckeyes would draw serious consideration with an offer, Bowen said they would be a top contender: "I definitely have very strong interest in OSU."
Ohio Sophomore Prospects Plan to Camp
Perry four-star tight end Luke Farrell, has always dreamed of playing football for Ohio State, and Leipsic offensive lineman Gavin Cupp has grown up a Buckeye fan. The pair of Ohio sophomore football prospects plan to camp at Ohio State this summer in hopes of landing scholarship offers.
Farrell, who plans to camp on June 17-18, has already started to hear from the Buckeyes.
"I actually got to talk to coach Meyer on the phone," Farrell said. "He said he likes my film and is excited to see me at camp."
The 6-foot-6, 219-pound tight end prospect picked up his first offer from Illinois on Tuesday. The offer will be the first of many for Farrell, who is the 229th best prospect in the 2016 class according to 247Sports.
Gavin Cupp doesn't even have a recruiting profile on the various networks, but the Ohio State staff is already well aware of the 6-foot-6, 275-pound offensive lineman. Early in the process, Cupp has received a lot of interest from the Buckeyes.
"I've talked to coach Meyer, Mark Pantoni, I got another call from Ohio State – I think it was Ed Warinner – and Zach Smith came [to my school] last Thursday," Cupp said.
Toledo was the first school to offer Cupp a scholarship and many other schools are already showing interest. About 12 schools have sent camp invites and showed interest, he told 11W.
Gavin Cupp plans to camp at Ohio State on June 21. If everything goes well, he could land an offer from the Buckeyes. "They [Ohio State coaches] said if I do what I've shown on film at their camp, I could walk out with an offer!"
You'll want to remember the names of Luke Farrell and Gavin Cupp. They will be on the radar for the next two years.
Upcoming Visitors
Jeremy Birmingham will have a update on prospects attending the Nike Football Training Camp in Columbus this weekend, but there are other prospects still planning to make visits to Columbus later this month.
Alabama four-star defensive end commitment Mekhi Brown has tweeted plans to visit OSU with Jawon Pass, a 2016 five-star quarterback the Buckeyes recently offered. It's unlikely the Buckeyes flip Brown and it'll be even tougher to pull Pass out of the south.
The Buckeyes recently offered Florida State three-star safety commitment A.J. Westbrook, according to his Twitter. In a message to 11W, Westbrook said his commitment is still firm to Florida State but he would like to visit Ohio State.
Beckham, Dotson to Camp at Ohio State
Kei Beckham and Meiko Dotson, a pair of unoffered corners, plan to camp at Ohio State to try to earn an offer.
Beckham, a three-star corner from Dayton, holds offers from Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Minnesota, Purdue, Wake Forest and others. Ohio State assistant coach Tim Hinton has remained in contact with the 2015 prospect. The Dayton native plans to camp at Ohio State on June 8, where he thinks he should be able to pick up an offer from the Buckeyes.
By the end of June, Beckham plans to narrow his college choices. Though Ohio State offer would change things, his crystal ball currently reads all Kentucky.
Dotson, an unranked corner from Florida, has added offers from Indiana, Georgia Tech, Ohio and Wisconsin this month. He has been in contact with Tim Hinton and plans to tag along with his high school coach to OSU's kicking and longsnapping camp, which his coach helps out with. The camp runs June 9-11.
