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.
THERRAN COLEMAN STARTING TO GARNER BIG ATTENTION
While the ups and downs of the 2016 defensive back recruiting have been well documented, there's always new names popping up. This week, that new name is Pittsburgh's Therran Coleman.
Coleman is a 6-foot-tall, 175-pound cornerback from Brashear High School in Pittsburgh, and two months ago was still waiting for his first offer. Today, he's got scholarships on the table from Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and West Virginia and has recently started to hear from Ohio State, including getting a school visit from Luke Fickell on Monday, nearly a year after his first visit to Columbus when he camped with the Buckeyes.
Coleman says he intends to visit and camp again with Ohio State this summer, and acknowledges that an offer from the Buckeyes is one that could make a difference in his recruitment, as one might expect. He's a consensus three-star prospect and the second-ranked cornerback in Pennsylvania behind Damar Hamlin, who is high on Ohio State's list.
MICAH POTTER'S GAME EXPANDING
Cleveland.com's Bill Landis was present this past weekend as the AAU circuit made big-time stops in Lexington and Indianapolis. One of the primary reasons for the trip was to get a closer look at Ohio State 2016 commitments Derek Funderburk and Micah Potter, but Landis was able to glean a lot of valuable basketball recruiting information that I felt was worth sharing here.
First of all, Potter's evolving game was evident, and that's a good thing for Ohio State. At 6-foot-10, Potter will need to excel on the perimeter in Columbus, because he's not just a traditional back-to-the-basket big man. Landis' take on Potter reflects that improvement since the last time he saw him in person.
Potter is much improved from the last time I saw him as a high school sophomore over a year ago. He showed good touch from the outside for a player who's 6-foot-10, 245 pounds, but his biggest asset might be in the pick-and-roll game. Potter has the big body you want from a center, but also has the feet and hands to roll off screens and finish inside, or pop off screens and knock down a jumper.
Funderburk also drew some impressive reviews.
Funderburk is interesting to me because he'll be changing roles once he gets to college. Right now he's a long 6-foot-9 forward who's playing in more of a post role in high school. When he gets to Columbus he'll be more of a wing player. That means he'll have to work on his jump shot, but he's got the athleticism to play out there. When I saw him on Sunday in Lexington, he had a physical matchup with Gahanna Lincoln four-star power forward Nick Ward, and seemed to struggle a bit with the physicality. Part of the reason Matta likes Funderburk is because of his upside. He's far from a complete player, but he's already a great athlete and there's a lot to work with there.
I recommend reading the whole article I've linked, because there's good bits of information about the other possibilities for 2016 and beyond.
2016 WIDE RECEIVER DISCUSSION
With Justin Layne's weekend commitment to Michigan State, the picture at wide receiver for Ohio State's 2016 class might've gotten a little bit clearer. As we've said for months, Austin Mack and Donnie Corley are at the top of Ohio State's list, and with the Buckeyes feeling like they have an above-average shot at landing each, Layne was never a priority to them recruiting-wise, a fact that was no doubt evident to him, helping him make an early decision.
As things stand, the Buckeyes are telling the Corley and Mack camps that they are going to take two pure wide receivers in 2016, which – understanding that Kierre Hawkins, George Hill and Demario McCall could all play different spots in the offense – makes a good deal of sense. You can't take four or five wide receivers every year. For Ohio State it's about finding the right two and Mack and Corley fit the bill from a talent standpoint but more importantly from a personality standpoint; which is always an important piece of the puzzle for the Buckeyes.
Mack will commit somewhere – and most people think it will be Ohio State – on June 7th. Corley could commit to any number of schools at any time, but right now the biggest competitors are Michigan State, Notre Dame and Tennessee. It'd also be unwise to count out Michigan, even if they're not regularly linked to the Detroit Martin Luther King star. If Corley or Mack end up elsewhere, the Buckeyes would crank up the pressure on a number of other targets – guys like Binjimen Victor for sure – but right now it's Mack and Corley at the top.
What if, come February, a player like Sam Bruce decided he wanted to be "next" at Ohio State, do you make room for him? Of course.
MCCALL IS AN ARMY ALL-AMERICAN
North Ridgeville's Demario McCall has agreed to represent Ohio and his Rangers in the US Army All-American game.
@DemarioMccall signing to play in U.S. Army All-American Game. Go Rangers! #WErNR #ArmyStrong pic.twitter.com/VRvESFq9CI
— Coach Durbin (@RangerPrideFB) April 28, 2015
McCall, who committed to Ohio State on March 28th, is the country's 43rd-ranked overall prospect.
FELDER DECISION DATE SET
Since he decommitted from Virginia Tech last Friday, the speculation has been that Baltimore's Kareem Felder would make his next college choice this week, and today he confirmed that would be the case. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound defensive back will make his college choice on Sunday, and it appears the choice is coming down to Ohio State and Clemson. He's visited each school recently, and he may have dropped a small hint about his likely choice on Twitter.
Looks great pic.twitter.com/mUyYauPXZe
— Kareem Felder Jr #7 (@Wolvereem07) April 27, 2015
Gray box number 13 on Sunday? Stay tuned.
