The Hurry Up: Looking at New Offers in Virginia and California, Jamar King Discussion and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on January 29, 2016 at 5:30 pm
Virginia resident, Canada-native Luiji Vilain
Luiji Vilain
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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.

JAMAR KING UPDATE AND SITUATION

The Buckeyes are still in the thick of things for Mendocino College defensive lineman Jamar King as the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Detroit native prepares to embark on his final official visit, to Central Florida, this weekend.

King had told 11W prior to the start of his visit to Alabama last week that a decision was likely to be made this week, but that a decision may not be announced until signing day. The decision to make this visit to Central Florida, which had been in the works for a while, doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't make a choice, but there were a number of folks (including myself) who assumed that after being in Ohio and Alabama, there may not be a need for a trip to UCF.

One thing potentially at play here? Space at Alabama and at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are likely to only take three more players in the 2015 class, and it's presumed that a space is "saved" for Malik Harrison, Jordan Fuller or Damar Hamlin (or both) and anything after that point becomes a crapshoot of sorts. If those three all (unlikely) choose to be Buckeyes, is there a spot for King? 

At Bama, speculation of a similarly confounding scholarship situation has arisen. That particular confusion has been compounded by the Tide receiving reaffirmation that four-star defensive tackle Raekwon Davis from Meridian, Mississippi, who had been rumored to be considering other options, is still a part of the Tide's class. With Davis in, Nick Saban's 2016 class has three pure defensive tackles, and although King could play on the edge in Alabama's system, it's not yet known if there's room for him in their class either.

King is now expected to make a decision in the early part of next week but not on national signing day and, at the risk of sounding like UCF isn't likely to beat Ohio State or Bama if all things were equal, we'll found out if all things are equal soon. 

VILAIN EARNS OHIO STATE OFFER

Last summer, Canadian prospect Luiji Vilain, who obviously has one of the cooler names of any kid from any country, was one of many who made a trip to Ohio State for Friday Night Lights. 

This week, Vilain, who transferred to Alexandria, Virginia's Episcopal High School with former Ohio State target and current North Carolina commit Patrice Rene, received a scholarship offer from Ohio State.

At 6-foot-3, 250-pounds, Vilain has the right size and speed combination to make himself a national prospect and the two years of playing ball in the United States will give him a bit more time to get acclimated against a higher level of competition. The Buckeyes' offer is Vilain's eighth; Ohio State joins Penn State, North Carolina, USF, Rutgers and Minnesota among the schools on his list.

THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE

Friday afternoon is the right time for a perspective check, and on Wednesday night of this week, St. Joseph's, Michigan 2017 defensive end Corey Malone-Hatcher gave an excellent glimpse into what recruits really pay attention to. Malone-Hatcher, a four-star defensive end who has an Ohio State offer, took to Twitter to share his feelings on the reactions from Michigan and Penn State fans as the news of Jordan Elliott and Quinn Nordin decommitting from the Wolverines and Nittany Lions respectively, broke. 

Malone-Hatcher is considering Michigan and Penn State, along with Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State and others, and has been a favorite of Buckeyes' defensive line coach Larry Johnson, Sr. since he attended FNL in 2014. The maturity and poise he showed in taking the time to discuss this topic, putting himself in the proverbial line of fire from two rabid fanbases, might help understand why Johnson views him so highly.

Twitter's impact on the recruiting world is impossible to ignore, and it appears obvious that fans, at this point, are certainly never going to stop interacting with recruits (no matter how often they're asked not to). It's important to remember that as a fan your negative actions are going to have a much longer-lasting negative impact than your positive actions will provide positive impact. Unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

Stay above the fray and support your team but remember: these are kids making the biggest decisions of their lives. To expect them to always handle the attention that's been thrown on them perfectly is unreasonable.

Yes, occasionally kids play the system that's created them, but it's not difficult to understand how egos and importance can become inflated when we turn teenagers into idols.

Recruiting is an awesome thing to cover because every single day there are new and exciting stories to tell, and most of the kids we get to meet and talk to are humble, hungry and just hoping for a chance to fulfill their dreams to take better care of their families. Not all kids are worth paying attention to and a good number are just playing a game for attention, but most are just trying to get through the most challenging part of their young lives.

BOSA REHAB MOVING ALONG NICELY

Malone-Hatcher's tweet may be full of perspective, but it's a recent Tweet by Nick Bosa that is likely to have Buckeye fans feeling a bit more excited.

Bosa had knee surgery in November and his rehabilitation is clearly going very well. It's not unreasonable to expect him to be at 100-percent health by the time he arrives at Ohio State come June.

INVITE-ONLY UNDERCLASSMEN VISITORS' LIST

I know we're all still freaking out about the 2016 recruiting class, but the Buckeyes are not going to waste any time turning their attention, at least for a day, to 2017 and beyond.

On Sunday, as the Ohio State basketball team takes on Maryland, Urban Meyer and his staff will host a number of their top targets during an invitation-only weekend for underclassmen. The Ohio State football program, aware of the need for a high-energy atmosphere in recruiting, even used Meyer's Twitter account today to get the word out: show up on Sunday and support the Buckeyes because this weekend is a big one in building future classes.

Who will be on hand in Columbus? Let's start with a handful of Buckeyes' commitments.

As for the non-committed prospects expected to be in attendance, this weekend will give the Buckeyes a good look at a number of in-state standouts that are potentially on the verge of earning an offer from Ohio State.

There are a number of out-of-state who will make their way to Columbus this weekend as well, including a pair of five-star talents.

It's shaping up to be quite a weekend on campus and with a Top 10 basketball opponent en route, Sunday afternoon should provide an excellent atmosphere for the 20 or so prospects checking out the Buckeyes' football program.

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