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.
FEELING FELDER
In case you missed it earlier today, the Buckeyes picked up commitment number 13 for 2016 when Baltimore defensive back Kareem Felder chose Ohio State over Clemson.
For the stargazers out there, Felder's decision may not do much for you; he's only the nation's 104th-ranked cornerback and a three-star prospect, but he's been coveted by the Buckeyes and that's what should matter. In a recruiting year that sees as much momentum as Ohio State maybe has ever had, the decision to "accept" a commitment from Felder this early in the process speaks volumes about the way he's regarded by the coaching staff. Players like Chad Clay, Jared Mayden and others may not – despite their lofty rankings – be able to say the same thing at this point.
With Kareem in the mix, the question now becomes what other cornerback or cornerbacks will join him. The aforementioned Clay says a decision could come at any time, and Mayden will choose his school at The Opening in July. Pittsburgh's Damar Hamlin is probably the one left on the board the Buckeyes would prefer, but with a later decision coming from Hamlin, can they afford to wait and pass up on Clay or Mayden?
There's no shortage of intrigue.
CHRISMAN DECISION COMING MID-WEEK
Ohio State could add number 14 to the mix by midweek as Cincinnati punter Drue Chrisman is planning a Tuesday, May 5th decision, although he says there's still details that need to be finalized for that to happen.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound specialist from LaSalle High School will be making his decision between Ohio State, where he spent two days a few weeks ago, Florida State and BYU. He told Eleven Warriors that he's got a pretty good idea of what the choice will be.
Chrisman is an active and practicing member of the Mormon faith, and while his decision from a football standpoint should be easy to break down, adding in the element of his faith makes the waters a bit murkier.
Although Ohio State's Cam Johnston still has two years of eligibility, there's some thought that he could be test the NFL waters after the 2015 season, so adding Chrisman – the country's top-ranked punter and an Ohioan – becomes a bit more important to the 2016 class.
MACK MAKING MICHIGAN TRIP
On Friday, Ohio State's Zach Smith made a visit to Fort Wayne, Indiana and checked in on the Buckeyes' top wide receiver target in 2016, Bishop Luers' Austin Mack. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Mack last visited Ohio State the weekend of April 11th, and the Buckeyes continue to be the runaway favorite on the 247Sports.com crystal ball.
On Monday, Mack will travel north to Michigan to visit Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines. He was scheduled to visit Michigan State for their spring football game last weekend, but did not make the trip.
As you all know, a June 7th decision is slated for Mack. He told 11W on Saturday that he is hoping to make his way to Columbus for Nike's The Opening regional qualifier the first weekend of June. He's recovering from a shoulder injury and hopes to be 100-percent within two weeks.
We're getting dangerously close to "eat my shoe" territory with Mack. It'd be a major surprise to see him end up anywhere other than Ohio State at this point.
NOT 'ROUND THESE PARTS
Occasionally I find myself at an impasse of sorts when it comes to recruiting and recruiting coverage. There's a fine line between being overbearing and unnecessarily intrusive and being thorough and fair when it comes to the thoughts of teenagers, coaches, families, etc. Oftentimes I wonder at what point we – as an industry – go too far, and it's a line that we here at 11W will continue to consider as the recruiting calendar and timelines accelerate.
A few months ago, Rivals.com added recruiting profiles for a pair of 2021 prospects – sixth graders – and the world, thankfully, mocked them for it. This past week, Michigan began offering 8th grade prospects in Florida, although that "offer" could be nothing more than another attempt by Jim Harbaugh to get an entire family to Ann Arbor, as the 13-year-old in question is the younger brother of a 2016 offer for the Wolverines.
Miami, Tennessee and others – including Ohio State – are all paying attention to kids and their development at that tender age and it's incredibly troubling to see. The amount of pressure that gets added to the daily lives of kids being recruited by the country's top programs is almost impossible to quantify, and I can't see a single way that "offering" an 8th-grader is good for the kid, or their families. I don't personally feel 100-percent comfortable dealing with kids until their sophomore year, but the way things are going it does feel like we're heading down a slippery slope.
It's my intention, as long as I'm here with 11W, to never provide recruiting coverage of any kid who has not finished their freshman year of high school football, no matter how many "offers" they have or how much publicity/press they're receiving.
I just think it's better that way.
