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.
GILLISON PLANNING TWO OHIO STATE VISITS
Yesterday afternoon we talked about 2018 tight end options and when it comes to those players from Ohio, Pickerington Central's Trenton Gillison sits at the top of the list. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder added what is likely the biggest of his 14 early offers last night.
I'm blessed to receive my 15th offer to Michigan State University pic.twitter.com/qg2dlURfXh
— T-Boogie (@TrentonGillison) June 1, 2016
That offer comes a few days after a weekend visit to see the Spartans. Next week, the country's seventh-ranked tight end will make one of two upcoming visits to see the Buckeyes.
"I'm going on the 6th," Gillison told 11W of his next planned visit to Ohio State. "I'm also going there on the 14th."
The 14th is a one-day camp at Ohio State, where Gillison will work in an attempt to earn a Buckeye offer. He says that things have been fairly hectic lately and he's not as many conversations with the Scarlet and Gray as he'd like.
"I haven't been in contact as much as I'd like," he said. "I've been busy with school and baseball."
BUCKEYES ON TRIMMED DOWN LIST FOR 2017 DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Just a few hours ago, 2017 defensive tackle Jordan Williams, a four-star prospect from Virginia Beach, Virginia, released his top five schools on Twitter and the Buckeyes are on the list.
All Glory To God #Top5 pic.twitter.com/x4luYDnge6
— Jordan Williams (@_blessed_23) June 1, 2016
Offered by Ohio State just about two weeks ago, Williams told 11W that he's eager to get up for a visit to Columbus and has the Buckeyes on the list thanks in part to the success of Joey Bosa.
"Just seeing the success Joey Bosa had in the system," Williams said. "That definitely makes me think I could be the same when I work on technique, power and speed. I would like to visit and build on the relationship I have with (Larry) Johnson and (Urban) Meyer."
According to the country's 269th-ranked prospect, if he's able to make a visit this summer it'd likely be in July for Ohio State's Friday Night Lights.
"I'll hopefully visit in July," he said. "I'll ask about Friday Night Lights for sure."
THOMPSON TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BUCKEYES
One of the more recent 2018 defensive tackles to receive an Ohio State offer is St. Louis, Missouri's Michael Thompson, a 6-foot-3. 290-pounder at Parkway High School.
The country's 44th-ranked 2018 prospect was offered by the Buckeyes on May 17th, and he says that the offer was a bit of a surprise. Yesterday he added his 12th offer – Arkansas is the latest – and he's not sure where the recent attention is coming from.
"I honestly don't know, it's kind out of the blue," Thompson told 11W. "I was thinking it could have been the Nike Opening performance."
Whatever the root of the attention, he's glad to be receiving it. Growing up in Missouri – St. Louis specifically – you may think Thompson is a big fan of former Buckeye Ezekiel Elliott, but he says that's not necessarily the case.
"I didn't follow Zeke that much, but I knew he was a great player," Thompson said of the fellow St. Louis native. "I know some things about Ohio State, but not a whole bunch. Hopefully I can visit there this summer."
The defensive tackle is just getting familiar with his recruitment and actually grew up rooting for Oregon, despite his location. Being a "fan" of a team will carry little weight in his ultimate choice, but he knows what will.
"I liked Oregon since I was about 5-years-old," Thompson said. "I still do, but It doesn't mean much in the recruiting process to me. What matters to me, and I know the answer is blunt, but I want to win most of all. I hate losing."
JUDSON RELEASES NEW TOP 10
In what shouldn't be a surprise, former Ohio State commitment Bruce Judson did not include the Buckeyes in his newly released Top 10 list, made public today on Twitter.
TOP 10#Blessed#RipUnc pic.twitter.com/tuoyETQFSP
— Bruce Judson Jr (@4way_lilbruce) June 1, 2016
Judson, who committed to Ohio State the night of their 2015 national championship victory against Oregon, made noise recently when he went public with a complaint that Urban Meyer didn't know who he was during a visit to Columbus last summer. He decommitted from the Buckeyes in October after going out of his way last July to convince everyone he was "100-percent" to Ohio State.
PSA:It's crazy how the media say I'm having second thoughts bout leaving Florida when I say after every interview im 100% to Ohio state
— Bruce Judson Jr (@4way_lilbruce) July 17, 2015
The country's 14th-ranked 2017 athlete and 245th-ranked overall prospect has long been considered a Florida "lean" although recent months have seen a serious uptick in the attention that Pitt, Arizona and others are receiving.
Recruiting is fun, right?
