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.
CALEB KELLY TALKING UP BUCKEYES
The country's third-ranked outside linebacker, Clovis West (Fresno, California) standout Caleb Kelly, says he's shuffling his Top 10 after a host of new offers, including one from Ohio State, forced him to reevaluate where things stand. In an interview with Scout.com's Greg Biggins, Kelly talks about the Buckeyes and how he hopes to get out for a visit soon.
Ohio State has one commitment at linebacker – Illinois' Tuf Borland – and are in a position where they aren't chasing a linebacker to finish out the class necessarily, but a player of Kelly's caliber is too good to not at least make tepid effort for. So, Kelly is talking about a Buckeye visit, but as I've said here before, unless he schedules one and makes it happen, it's hard for Ohio State's coaching staff to know how interested he really is. There is currently no coach on the staff assigned to California for recruiting purposes, so sending a coach out to visit Kelly is not something they'll be regularly doing unless they know he's got legitimate interest in the school.
As he noted in his interview, Kelly won't take any official visits during the season. A Buckeye visit this summer is going to be instrumental if there's any real chance for Ohio State to be in the mix come February.
AMBRY THOMAS NEXT DETROIT DEFENSIVE BACK WITH BUCKEYE OFFER
Yesterday afternoon, Ohio State had a pair of coaches at Detroit's Martin Luther King, Jr. High School – Kerry Coombs and Zach Smith – and a new offer to one of the Crusaders' best young players was extended.
Truly blessed to receive my 13th offer from The University f hio State The National Champions #OhioState #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/90TsRvaI9R
— Ambry Thomas 13 (@Tavonn_) May 20, 2015
Ambry Thomas, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound cornerback, added the Buckeyes to an impressive early offer list that includes Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, LSU, and a host of others.
Thomas told 11W it felt "great" to receive an offer from the national champions, and that the Buckeyes haven't been recruiting him long. Kerry Coombs made an impression on the country's 150th-ranked 2017 prospect.
Coach Coombs he funny fr I mess with him tho
— Ambry Thomas 13 (@Tavonn_) May 20, 2015
Flag-planting in the works? There's a long way to go, but it seems the Buckeyes are going to continue to stay active in Michigan as long as the enigmatic Coombs has a say in the matter.
TERRELL HALL SPEAKING HIS MIND
In case you missed it last Friday, Maryland's recruiting class got its first real big fish of the 2016 cycle when quarterback Dwayne Haskins, Jr. committed to the Terrapins. Immediately, the drumbeats about a revitalization of Maryland football – #MarylandPride – hit the social media circles hard and Ohio State commit Terrell Hall was a focus of many who bleed red, black, yellow, white and whatever other color Maryland uses these days. The mantra, the decree? Maryland takes care of their own, so the kids should stay home and take care of Maryland.
Hall, the country's 8th-ranked weakside defensive end and 130th-ranked overall prospect, didn't appreciate the way he was being talked at by Maryland fans and let loose the dogs of war on Twitter.
Lol Maryland get a couple of commits and think that they gone dominate the big 10
— Terrell Hall (@_TrillTrell_) May 16, 2015
It's funny how fans think UMD wanted me from the jump. If anything PSU had me from the jump & I love them for that. OSU is perfect for me
— Terrell Hall (@_TrillTrell_) May 17, 2015
UMD saw me when I was a sophmore and passed up on me. I went to their camp and they still didn't offer me. But they had me from the jump?
— Terrell Hall (@_TrillTrell_) May 17, 2015
I went to their camp because I actually liked the idea of playing at UMD but they payed me no attention until everyone else did.
— Terrell Hall (@_TrillTrell_) May 17, 2015
Hall isn't one to mince words, apparently. Although the Twitter tirade eventually waned, he re-tweeted an equally relevant Tweet from another Buckeye commit who hears much of the same "you should stay home and be a hero" scuttlebutt from his peers, running back Kareem Walker.
You don't gotta stay in your state to put on for your state. Most successful people got away and came back
— AlightyReem (@_KareemWalker) May 21, 2015
Valuable words, and ones to remember even in a football mecca like Ohio. Sometimes what these teenagers are going through, the pressure they feel to do what's best for others makes people forget they're making the biggest choice of their lives. If a kid from Ohio leaves Ohio, wish him well, just as you'd welcome a key coming in from another state.
NEW 2017 LINEBACKER OFFER
Ohio State extended a new 2017 scholarship offer today to Baron Browning, a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder from Kennedale, Texas.
Honored to receive a offer today from THE hio State University#uckeyes pic.twitter.com/I5M6hSHi5s
— Baron Browning (@baronbrwnng) May 21, 2015
Browning is the country's top-ranked 2017 inside linebacker and has offers from Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Stanford, Duke and others. Recruiting Texas is becoming increasingly difficult, but getting an early offer out to a player of this potential is the only way to get involved down the line.
POTTER SHOWS OFF GAME
Buckeye 2016 basketball commitment Micah Potter has been very busy this spring, playing basketball all around the Tri-State area and even in Italy. The Adidas Gauntlet is one the country's premier AAU events and there's substantial film on Potter from this year's event.