Welcome to The Hurry Up, which runs Sunday through Thursday, serving as your last stop for recruiting news and notes nightly. We'll recap the day as it happened and preview the days ahead while keeping our ear to the ground on the Ohio State recruiting scene.
MCCALL CONTINUES THE WAITING GAME
The nation's third-ranked running back, Demario McCall, is a player that many predicted would be a Buckeye commitment by now. Unfortunately for Ohio State fans, the North Ridgeville star has – as of now – decided to play his recruitment under the radar and more slowly than expected. Right now, McCall is starring for the Rangers' basketball team as a defensive stalwart and focusing on the hardwood instead of his future endeavors.
When basketball is finished, expect McCall to make a couple of visits before any big changes in his status occur. West Virginia and Michigan State are likely to receive junior day visits from the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder, who received a ton of individual attention during his last visit to Ohio State on January 25th.
While most expect that the Buckeyes are going to eventually land McCall, it's expected that the country's 50th-ranked player will receive a bit more national attention as the seasons change. Alabama, Florida State and Oregon are three names that I've consistently heard as potential disrupters to Urban Meyer's vision of securing three of the country's top five running backs.
MACK ON THE ROAD, PLANS MICHIGAN VISIT
One of the country's top wide receivers, Fort Wayne's Austin Mack, has had a busy weekend. He's traveled to the Carolinas and visited both North and South, continuing his efforts to learn as much about as many colleges as he can before his June 7th announcement. Ohio State continues to hold a comfortable lead on the 247Sports.com crystal ball.
While a visit to Chapel Hill and Columbia are concerning – anything can happen in the world of recruiting as we know – it's a planned visit to Michigan on March 7th that is worth paying attention to. Mack has been to Ohio State more times than I'm able to count, and he's been to Ann Arbor a handful of times as well, but this trip will be his first with Jim Harbaugh at the helm for the Wolverines. The Buckeyes, from what I'm told, feel confident in their position with Mack and are certainly not in a position to ask him to not make a visit, even if they'd like to. Visits to schools like Michigan and Notre Dame will no doubt warrant a bit more than a raised eyebrow as the Buckeyes hope to keep their hold on Mack, who recently underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum.
CAN BUCKEYES FIND MORE LINEBACKER GOLD IN MINNESOTA?
Ohio State did quite well when they last landed a linebacker from Minnesota – James Laurinaitis had an "ok" career in Columbus – and they're hoping that history repeats itself in 2016. Eden Prairie's Carter Coughlin, the country's 24th-ranked outside linebacker is likely to make a choice soon and will select a school from the trio of Minnesota, Ohio State, and Oregon. Coughlin, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound linebacker, made his third trip to Columbus at the end of January and he's a top target at his position for the Buckeyes. The linebacker says he'll start getting ready to make a decision soon.
"I'm visiting Minnesota again on March 7th," Coughlin told Eleven Warriors. "Then I'll start narrowing it down."
Coughlin is thought by many to be favoring Minnesota; most Gopher state natives are fans of the Maroon and Gold. He's considering the Golden Gophers but doesn't see "staying home" as a good reason to choose them.
"In reality, no matter where I go to school, I'm leaving home," he said. "I'll be leaving what I'm used to. That's what college does."
HASISE DUBOIS HOPING TO HEAR MORE FROM OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes have already struck gold once at De Paul Catholic (Wayne, N.J.) when they received a commitment from the five-star tailback Kareem Walker and wide receiver Hasise Dubois hopes they're not done in Spartan country.
"Right now, I'm looking at Rutgers, Ohio State, Virginia and Kentucky the hardest," Dubois told 11W. "Overall, recruiting is going pretty well. I talk to Ohio State here and there."
Ed Warinner, Ohio State's offensive coordinator is responsible for recruiting Dubois, the country's 70th-ranked wide receiver.
"Warinner is a great coach," he said. "We have a very good relationship and it's obvious that he knows what he's doing."
