The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
RASHARD LAWRENCE VISIT?
There will be a number of major prospects–we'll have a full visitor preview Friday–at Ohio State this weekend, as you're no doubt aware. One player that the Buckeyes had hoped to see on campus again who isn't likely to there, however, is Monroe, Louisiana's Rashard Lawrence.
The country's 24th-ranked player and a five-star defensive tackle, Lawrence has visited Ohio State twice in the last five months but rumors began circulating in recent weeks that he was considering another trip north.
"That (visit) was never realistically going to happen," one source at Ohio State shared.
The Buckeyes are running as tight as they can with LSU for Lawrence, and it's always a difficult thing to pull talent from the South and even harder than that to pull it from Louisiana. It's probably premature to put this one to bed–especially as rumors of a potential coaching change at LSU are beginning to circulate–but it's going to get more difficult from here without another visit.
SCOTT WILL VISIT OHIO STATE AGAIN
After a weekend visit to Duke last week, Portsmouth East 2018 lineman Blaine Scott informed Eleven Warriors Wednesday morning he'd be back at Ohio State for a visit this week. It will be his second trip of the year to Columbus — he also took in the Buckeyes' September game against Northern Illinois.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Scott has four early scholarship offers but he knows that one big one, like Ohio State or Notre Dame, will change his recruitment completely. He visited the Irish Oct. 10.
"One of the big schools will offer soon and then the door will open wide," Scott shared. "So for now I am just working and staying patient."
Scott is staying home and visiting the Buckeyes with former teammate and Ohio State commitment Tyler Gerald rather than taking a trip to Boston.
"Notre Dame invited me to their Shamrock Series game this weekend and I will be camping there this summer," he said. "But I will be at Ohio State this weekend."
PAIR OF 2017 OHIO BACKS TO CHECK OUT BUCKEYES
As the weekend draws closer, the visitors list grows larger.
Weston Bridges, who we profiled last week, will make his first visit to Ohio State.
The Copley running back told 11W a week ago that the Buckeyes were anxious to get him on campus and he's excited for the trip.
"I have always been a Buckeye fan," Bridges said. "They want me to come visit in the offseason and show me what Ohio State is all about."
Another newer name to watch in Ohio for 2017 is North Ridgeville's Cameron Bright, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder who transferred in this season from Alabama.
Bright, who took over at running back for Ohio State commit Demario McCall while McCall nursed some nagging injuries this year, is likely to get most of his college look at linebacker according to his head coach, Luke Durbin.
CARMAN WILL START COLLEGE VISITS
Like Matt Bockhorst, 2018 Ohio lineman Jackson Carman also saw his season end in a disappointing fashion.
"We were up the whole game," Carman told 11W of Fairfield's loss to Cincinnati Elder two weeks ago. "But with like five minutes in the fourth quarter they came back and won 50-42."
Also like Bockhorst, now Carman–one of the state's fastest-rising prospects–will turn his attention towards recruiting, at least for a week or two before diving into his sophomore season of basketball.
"I'll be at Ohio State this weekend and Michigan next weekend," Carman said. "I'm coming up with my coaches probably."
Ohio State has not offered the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder yet but he believes that could happen this weekend. Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin are among the programs that have already done so.
"They told me they're going to offer when I come up," Carman added. "They just want Urban Meyer to do it in person."
Tim Sullivan, a recruiting analyst from TheWolverine.com, Michigan's Rivals.com site, checked out Carman live during the Elder loss and came away impressed. He shot this video of the game as well.
In all, Carman has the tools to be an outstanding lineman down the road (on one long sideline pass, he sprinted down the field to celebrate with his team, and looked more like a basketball player than a heavy-footed offensive lineman), and is perhaps a little ahead of where you might expect a sophomore to be in technique. With more physical and skill development, he should be a special player.
Carman's recruitment is sure to be an interesting one and there's some thought that he could be the first true Ohio-based battle between Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh.
