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.
DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES AT NOTRE DAME THIS WEEKEND INSTEAD OF OSU?
After a visit to Ohio State last weekend, Detroit five-star wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones had planned to return this weekend for the Buckeyes' spring game.
If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times: in recruiting, anything can change at any given moment.
As of now, it's expected that Peoples-Jones, the country's top-ranked wide receiver, and his four-star teammate, defensive back Jaylen Kelly-Powell, will instead travel to Notre Dame and check out the Irish's spring game instead.
Thomas Wilcher, the head coach at Detroit Cass Tech, is taking his players to South Bend, where he'll be speaking.
Recruiting isn't for the faint of heart, have we mentioned that?
HARRIS BEGINS OHIO STATE VISIT
While the last two days have brought bad news for a pair of five-stars (Darnay Holmes, Donovan Peoples-Jones) who were expected to visit this weekend, the visit for the country's top-ranked player, running back Najee Harris, is now underway.
The Bama commitment will stay in Columbus through the weekend and check out the Ohio State spring game on Saturday afternoon.
Stay tuned.
RIVALS RELEASES TOP 100 FOR 2018
Earlier this week, the fine folks at Rivals.com released their first Top 100 list for the 2018 recruiting class. The list has only five five-stars, so they're taking their time elevating kids too highly with so much time before 2018 signing day.
The list has a number of names that should already be familiar to Ohio State recruiting fans, including a handful of Ohio prep prospects. While not numerically organized, here are the four Ohioans on the list.
- Jackson Carman • OL • Fairfield • ★★★★
- Jaelen Gill • RB • Westerville (South) • ★★★★
- Joseph Scates • WR • Dayton (Dunbar) • ★★★★
- L'Christian "Blue" Smith • WR • Huber Heights (Wayne) • ★★★★
The Buckeyes have offered three of those four players, and with Scates emerging on the scene as a soon-to-be national name, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him receiving an offer this summer.
Outside of Ohio, the Buckeyes have many targets on this early list as well.
- Tyreke Johnson • DB • Jacksonville, Florida • ★★★★★
- Zamir White • RB • Laurinburg, North Carolina • ★★★★★
- Emil Ekiyor • OL • Indianapolis • ★★★★
- Palaie Gaoteote • LB • Las Vegas • ★★★★
- Kalon Gervin • DB • Detroit • ★★★★
- Houston Griffith • ATH • Chicago • ★★★★
- Brian Hightower • WR • IMG Academy • ★★★★
- Matthew Jones • DT • Brooklyn, New York • ★★★★
- Phil Jurkovec • QB • Gibsonia, Pennsylvania • ★★★★
- Zack Kuntz • TE • Camp Hill, Pensylvania • ★★★★
- Lorenzo Lingard • RB • Orange City, Florida • ★★★★
- Jalen Mayden • QB • Sachse, Texas • ★★★★
- Teradja Mitchell • LB • Virginia Beach, Virginia • ★★★★
- PJ Mustipher • DT • Owings Mills, Maryland • ★★★★
- TJ Pledger • RB • West Hills, California • ★★★★
- Brendan Radley-Hiles • DB • Calabasas, California • ★★★★
- Asante Samuel • DB • Fort Lauderdale, Florida • ★★★★
- Ricky Slade • RB • Woodbridge, Virginia • ★★★★
- Xavier Thomas • DE • Florence, South California • ★★★★
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson • QB • Las Vegas • ★★★★
- Christian Tutt • DB • Thomson, Georgia • ★★★★
- Taron Vincent • DT • IMG Academy • ★★★★
- Max Wright • DE • Katy, Texas • ★★★★
Whew.
WEST VIRGINIA DEFENSIVE LINEMEN ON CAMPUS THIS WEEKEND
A pair of West Virginia brothers, 2017 defensive lineman Darius Stills and his brother Dante Stills, a 2018 four-star prospect, will be in Columbus this weekend for Buckeyes' spring game.
Ohio State Visit Saturday #OSU
— Darius Stills56 (@Darius_Stills56) April 12, 2016
Ohio state on Saturday #OSU
— Dante Stills55 (@kinglamar222) April 12, 2016
The brothers Stills, whose father Gary Stills played at West Virginia before a 10-year NFL career, are each holding Division One offers. Darius, 6-foot-3 and 265-pounds, has offers from UMass and Kent State, while the Dante, 6-foot-4 and 265-pounds, holds one, from West Virginia.
Because of NCAA contact rules, the Buckeyes haven't had much of a chance to talk to Dante, but he's excited for this visit.
"I'm very excited," the 2018 Fairmont, West Virginia star said. "We've not really talked a lot–just when they invited me– but 'm honored because it's just a top school in the nation."
