The Hurry Up: Another Swing and a Miss at Defensive Tackle, Preparing for Two Official Visits and More

NO LAWRENCE, NOW WHAT?

For the second time in a month, Ohio State has given their best, most thorough effort to landing a highly-ranked defensive tackle from the south. Sadly for the Buckeyes, for the second time in a month they've fallen just short and ran second to an SEC power, today missing on five-star defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence.

With Lawrence out of the picture, the chase for a second, complementary defensive tackle to line up alongside Malik Barrow just got a bit more interesting for Ohio State. They went all in on Lawrence and Auburn early-enrollee Antwuan Jackson and now, with just about 10 days left until signing day, the options are limited to replace them.

So, as I'm sure it's going to be a primary topic of discussion, let's take a look at what could happen next at defensive tackle.

• Option 1: Last weekend, Detroit native and Mendocino (Ukiah, California) junior college standout defensive end Jamar King made an official visit to Ohio State and he is the top remaining target on the Buckeyes' board. This weekend, King is visiting Alabama–a school that is "ok" at football, usually–and the Crimson Tide have offered the 6-foot-5, 285-pounder so this trip may has the potential to answer the question of what King is likely to do. He's got an official visit scheduled to Central Florida next week but the 26-year-old JUCO star has told me that a decision could come next week between Ohio State and Alabama. The Buckeyes would love to add King to their defensive line rotation and be done with defensive line recruiting for the cycle.
• Option 2: There are a few other potential names on the list for the Buckeyes, including a new name that popped onto the scene this morning; USC commitment Keyshon Camp. A four-star prospect from Lakeland, Florida ranked as the country's 27th-best defensive tackle. Beyond Camp, who is probably a long-shot considering the lateness of the Ohio State offer, there are players like former Penn State commitment Karamo Dioubate who they could still try and bring in for an official visit, but they've seemed to pass on him a few other times in the past. Recent Oklahoma decommitment Chris Daniels had been considering a January 29th official visit but that is not going to happen so you can scratch him from your list.
• Option 3: This is the option that I think is the most likely if Jamar King opts for Alabama, because with the challenges Ohio State is already facing scholarship-wise for 2016 and definitely 2017, it may make "more sense" to bank a spot rather than taking a flyer on a player that isn't a likely to make an impact anytime soon. Last year, Ohio State went to the wire before racheting up the pressure and offering Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton, but that pair was from Ohio meaning a late-push was almost a surefire win. Ohio State absolutely wanted another defensive tackle in 2016 but with potentially five redshirt freshmen defensive tackles (Landers, Hamilton, Joshua Alabi, Dremont Jones and maybe Jashon Cornell) lining up with Michael Hill, Tracy Sprinkle and Donovan Munger the need numbers-wise isn't quite as pressing as it seems. Yes, they're inexperienced, but no, they're not lacking for bodies.
  
  With one verbal commitment in the fold for 2017 (Jerron Cage) and being in the mix for a number of big-timers in that class already, I'd personally pass on another player at the position in 2016 unless it's Jamar King.

MARYLAND STILL JONESING FOR KEANDRE?

Obviously, this week hasn't been all bad for Ohio State–the Buckeyes added three commitments on Monday as you know–but there's some smoke from the East Coast that one of those pledges may not be completely done with recruiting.

Maryland's 247Sports.com site has, for a few days now, speculated that Keandre Jones is second-guessing his decision and that he felt a bit of pressure to follow his close friend Dwayne Haskins, Jr. to Ohio State.

DJ Durkin and Maryland's new staff is, naturally, very interested in flipping Jones back to the Terrapins and are doing everything in their power to make that happen. Sources on the Ohio State side of things feel confident that despite the push by home-state team, they've got a good handle on what's going on with the nation's ninth-ranked outside linebacker. 

Jones was committed to Maryland for over a year before making the switch last weekend so it'd be unreasonable to think the Turtles wouldn't be snapping quickly to try and return him to the fold.

BECKER, BURNS HEADING TO COLUMBUS

Ohio State had a huge recruiting weekend last week with seven official visitors and they're back at it this week, welcoming in a pair of defensive backs.

Carlos Becker, a Kissimmee, Florida four-star cornerback from Osceola High School and Louisville (Kentucky) Trinity athlete Rodjay Burns, who is committed to his hometown Cardinals.

I've talked to a few people and there's a few things at play here worth watching. First and foremost, I'm of the mind that Ohio State would take either of these players in their 2016 class and be happy with the addition. Becker is one of the country's most underrated defensive backs and the Under-Armour All-American was offered by Ohio State way back in the spring. He visited Florida State last week and it may be a challenge to keep him from the Seminoles but he'll get plenty of one-on-one attention this weekend from the Buckeyes' staff and a good, long look at the openings in the secondary.

Burns may be a better prospect at wide receiver–he seems to be a bit more ready to play at that position–but Ohio State is also considering him at defensive back. As noted, he's committed to Louisville and has been since March but the Buckeyes' Kerry Coombs has been a regular in Louisville and the pair have developed a good relationship since he received an offer from the Scarlet and Gray in December.

We'll have updates on these two official visits on Sunday and see what could happen next. 

To answer the question before it gets asked, I do not think the Buckeyes would take a commitment from both of these players. I feel the odds are good that Jordan Fuller will be one of the two remaining openings they'd like to fill at defensive back and then it could be first come, first serve between Becker, Burns and Damar Hamlin.

SCOUT.COM LOOK AT MICAH POTTER, DEREK FUNDERBURK

Ohio State's 2016 basketball recruiting class is likely finished and both of their signees, Micah Potter and Derek Funderburk, continue to turn heads throughout the country with their play. The duo, ranked as the nation's 22nd and ninth-best centers respectively, and their senior seasons thus far are the subject of a Scout.com article today.

From Scout's Evan Daniels, Brian Snow and Josh Gershon:

Funderburk has good size, length and mobility to go with the impressive athleticism that we mentioned above. He runs the floor end-to-end with ease and does so with purpose often times leading to easy buckets. He's also very quick off his feet, which helps him as a rebounder and shot blocker.

Funderburk is currently averaging 17.8 points and 9.7 rebounds a game for a Hargrave team that is 28-1 on the season.

With Potter, at Florida's Montverde, the top-ranked "high school" team in the country, the reviews hare a bit more mixed, although he's been improving steadily.

The legit 6-foot-9 Potter has shown some good things this year on a loaded roster, and at times has looked like he hasn’t made a jump in his development.

The biggest thing Potter does at the moment is stretch the defense with his ability to shoot. He is pretty good in pick and pop situations, and throughout the year he has shown that in several in person evaluations. Also he will compete on the glass and is a decent vertical athlete who finishes fairly well around the rim when he has little bit of space.

That said, Potter does need to get tougher on the glass and do a better job of rebounding outside of his area.

Ohio State will welcome the pair of Buckeye State exports back home to Columbus this summer.