As The Opening’s regional camp was in Columbus two weekends ago, several Ohio State players were in and out throughout the day, taking in some of the action featuring some of the best high school players in the country.
Buckeyes quarterbacks J.T. Barrett and Stephen Collier were watching from the sidelines inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and Cardale Jones made an appearance on the practice fields outside. Safety Vonn Bell strolled through the practice facility a number of times.
Outside, watching the offensive linemen and defensive linemen go through one-on-one drills was 2015 early enrollee Jashon Cornell standing side-by-side with fellow 2015 class member Matt Burrell.
It was hard to envision this situation — Burrell and Cornell together at Ohio State — exactly one year prior because the Buckeyes’ 2015 class only had three commitments at the time of last year’s The Opening regional in Columbus. Fast-forward to National Signing Day 2015 and Ohio State inked a total of 27 commits.
And many of them seem to get along with each other. They’re active on social media, posting jabs at one another. It’s nothing but lighthearted fun. Though they haven’t played college football just yet, most seem to grasp the fact they’ll need to stick together as many freshman classes often do.
“It’s a big deal for me to have a good, close class,” Burrell said. We clicked early and it really is a bonus. No matter where we’re from, we always stay in touch.”
“We always make sure everyone’s OK and, in the end, that’s how we’re gonna get through this hell of a summer that we’re gonna have.”
Camaraderie in a recruiting class is important, Burrell says. Sometimes it happens throughout the recruiting process, but other times it doesn’t happen until everyone gets on campus during the summer. For the ‘Elite 15,’ as they call themselves, it seems a lot of that bonding has already been done.
“It’s a beautiful thing because the camaraderie is already there,” Burrell said. “We know some of them and I’m close with a couple of guys. I’m fired up about it.”
Ohio State’s 2015 recruiting class will finally be on campus by the end of Sunday. There’s some talented players in the group, for sure, but perhaps what’s more important is the bond they’ve already created amongst themselves.
“The future is bright and it’s brighter than it’s ever been in a while,” Burrell said.
