The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s event with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
FORGET RANKINGS, FELDER IS IMPRESSIVE
You know, theres's a lot of defensive backs still out there on the board for the Buckeyes in 2016. A lot. The most interesting thing is perhaps that despite the number interested and feasible, there's not a lot of guaranteed "takes" for the Ohio State staff. Each prospect out there has questions around him that continue the "will they or won't they" debate.
Trayvon Mullen, Damar Hamlin, Andrew Pryts, Jordan Fuller, Wayne Davis and Jaylon Jones are thought to be among the "take" group, but there's a number of other names across the nation that you might think would be that don't appear to be. Guys like Jared Mayden II, Patrice Rene, Chad Clay and Joejuan Williams who have had their name associated with the Buckeyes at times throughout the process but weren't quite the priority that people felt they would be. Those prospects, in the top 25 of their respective positions, are waiting for "clearance" but Kareem Felder, who committed to Ohio State in early May, was green-lighted by the Buckeyes despite being the 74th-ranked corner in the country. Why? I asked one person close to the Buckeyes' side of things what the line of thought is in the defensive backfield.
"He's a pure cornerback, he's fast, aggressive, physical even though he's smaller," the source said. "There are no questions about his ability."
THE OPENING GIVES CHANCE FOR BUCKEYES TO DO SOME CLOSING
Nike's The Opening is a little less than two weeks away and yesterday the organization released their latest 7-on-7 team roster, team "Lunarbeast."
Introducing Team #Lunarbeast Competing on the summer's biggest stage July 7-10 at Nike World HQ. #GETOPEN pic.twitter.com/XvnqM8Pi2A
— The Opening (@TheOpening) June 25, 2015
The roster, as you can plainly see, is chock-full of future Buckeyes.
Team #LunarBeast Full Team Mixtape | http://t.co/Ks3uXYqpMb pic.twitter.com/Of4dOC5hsj
— The Opening (@TheOpening) June 25, 2015
Five of them, in fact. The handful of Ohio State 2016 commitments will get to spend extensive amounts of time with a number of Ohio State targets in Beaverton, including defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson and the aforementioned Trayvon Mullen.
We'll look a bit closer at The Opening prior to the event but for now it's worth noting that the Buckeye commits are all playing on the same team and will have a list of guys to focus their recruiting efforts on.
RECRUITING VIOLATIONS AND MUSIC VIDEOS...IN HIGH SCHOOL
It's 2015, and it's a wild, wild world out there. Yesterday, the state of Virginia's defending state champion, Ocean Lakes High School, got some bad news. Their head coach, Chris Scott, will be suspended for the first three games of the 2015 season thanks to some unethical recruiting practices. The Dolphins' roster is, to put it lightly, absolutely loaded and it appears that a number of the recent transfers they've received have raised some eyebrows.
The suspension comes after a two month investigation regarding whether Scott violated a Virginia High School League rule prohibiting coaches or other school representatives from influencing students to transfer from one school to another for League activities. Sources say his suspension is due to violations regarding a spring league involving Middle School players, known as the 14-and under spring league.
A letter to Ocean Lakes Principal Dr. Cheryl Askew, dated June 23, outlines the factors in the Beach District Executive Committee’s decision. Some of the factors listed include:
A picture of middle school students identified as the “Core Four” wearing Ocean Lakes uniforms. At the time of the photograph, three of the four were not living in the Ocean Lakes attendance zone.
An online news story highlighting a talented Bayside Middle School football player being honored at an Ocean Lakes varsity football game.
An email from the parent of an eighth-grader in another attendance zone indicating the student was originally going to play Ocean Lakes spring ball, but when the student advised organizers of intentions to play for another school he was not allowed to continue playing with the Ocean Lakes team.
A Facebook post from an Ocean Lakes High School assistant coach that notes, “Not telling you what to do with your children but read this article and guess what school my sons going too (sic.) Guess what coach their playing for. (sic). That many kids going to college from one high school is crazy!!…Ocean Lakes is a college coach second home!!!”
The race for football supremacy is starting earlier and earlier and unfortunately it's bled into youth leagues and high school football. Why? Maybe because of stuff like this...
1 week from today on July 2nd, I will be announcing my college decision on @BleacherReport and commitment song by @CODEiNEROBiNSON
— P-Money (@ParkerBoudreaux) June 25, 2015
Yes. That's 2016 offensive lineman Parker Boudreaux from Orlando, Florida. Next week, he'll commit (rumors are that Notre Dame is the favorite) and he'll apparently do it via an exclusive made-for-him video by Bleacher Report and his own commitment song.
His. Own. Commitment. Song.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
HERE COMES FRANKLIN
It's been quite a month for the Big Ten on the recruiting trail and this week it's Penn State and James Franklin that have made some news.
The Nittany Lions added four different commitments this week, including a trio of defensive linemen. The week began with a pledge from kicker Blake Gillikin, a punter from Georgia. Next came three of a new defensive front four: New Jersey's Michael Dwumfour, Charlotte's Christian Colon, and Maryland's Ellison Jordan.
Penn State has 14 commitments and is now the 8th-ranked class in the country and 4th in the Big Ten.
THERE GOES ANGELINE
However, it was not all good news for Penn State today because Exton, Pennsylvania's, Cary Angeline, the country's 8th-ranked tight end, spurned the Nittany Lions and committed to USC.
proud to announce that I'm commited to the university of southern california trojans #fighton pic.twitter.com/j9ccs4focz
— Cary (@CaryAngeline) June 26, 2015
Angeline was thought by most to be deciding between Penn State and Notre Dame, but the Buckeyes had been continuing their recruitment while they wait to hear a final decision from Perry, Ohio's Luke Farrell. The commitment to USC means that things are likely to get very interesting on the Farrell front, who has Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Penn State among his final group of schools.
Notre Dame is the only school he's seriously considering that does not already have a tight end committed in 2016, a point they're likely to try and drive home to Farrell in the upcoming weeks when they're able to speak to him.
