The Hurry Up: Marvin Wilson Will Visit, More on Martell, Ohio State's Camp Sessions and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on June 8, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Isaiah Pryor (right) and Marcus Williamson at Ohio State
Marcus Williamson (left) and Isaiah Pryor (right)
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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.

PRYOR ON CAMPUS, TWITTER

Ohio State began their camp season in earnest Wednesday and two of the Buckeyes' 2017 commitments, Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson, were both in attendance getting a little bit of a workout in with Kerry Coombs.

Kerry Coombs, Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson
Kerry Coombs talks with IMG teammates and future Buckeyes, Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson

The IMG Academy teammates got in a little field work and then spent the afternoon with Coombs, checking out the first day of the Buckeyes' three-day summer camp session. 

Pryor spent time at Florida and Alabama this past spring following his last visit to Columbus, but there's little doubt that right now he's about as firmly committed to the Buckeyes as anyone in the 2017 class. He's become a regular at the school (one member of the Ohio State training staff joked with him as he walked by, asking him "Are you here again?"). He is working hard to develop his skills to try and get on the field next year. 

As a group of current Buckeye football players walked by the IMG pair, a defensive starter asked me who Pryor was.

"Who's that kid over there?" the Ohio State player asked. "He's ripped."

Perhaps one of the more interesting developments with Pryor recently is that he's decided to join Twitter. While that may sound like I'm joking, it's actually pretty telling. When he arrived at IMG, a number of his teammates felt he was a bit too private and reserved and so it's actually a great sign that he's beginning to open up a bit.

If you're a tweeter and want to keep up with the country's third-ranked safety 2017 prospect, you can do so by following him here.

HUGE NEWS FROM PAIR OF TEXAS STARS

When Ohio State offered Bellaire, Texas, 2017 defensive tackle Marvin Wilson in March, he immediately told 11W that the Buckeyes would be one of his top schools.

"They are automatically in my Top 3," Wilson said. "I have to get out there, to see what (Ohio State) is for myself."

Since then, however, things between the two sides haven't really heated up the way you'd expect, but that may be changing. Next week, Wilson – the country's top-ranked defensive tackle and Rivals' top-ranked overall prospect in 2017 – will visit Ohio State for the first time.

As noted, Wilson's teammate, Walker Little, will be making the trip to Columbus with him. Little is the country's 12th-ranked offensive tackle and the eighth-ranked player in Texas in the 2017 class. 

The Buckeyes are hoping to continue making a huge splash in Texas. Wilson is the state's top-ranked player, and Ohio State is the leader for Texas second-ranked player (Jeffrey Okudah), right at the top of the list for its third-ranked player (Baron Browning) and has a commitment from the Lone Star State's sixth-ranked player (J.K. Dobbins). This weekend, Texas' 10th-ranked player, linebacker Anthony Hines III, is scheduled to be on campus as well.

MORE ON MARTELL'S UPCOMING TRIP

Tuesday night, the news about the next Buckeye visit for five-star quarterback Tate Martell finally broke: he'll be on campus this weekend.

Martell's visit this week has been in the works for about a month, although two days ago there was some concern that he may end up being postponed because of a key 7-on-7 tournament he was asked to participate in, but the Bishop Gorman gunslinger will head to Columbus rather than playing in the event. 

So, the plan right now is this: Martell will arrive in Columbus on Saturday and he's expected to be there with his family through Sunday with a Monday departure possible. He's arriving on a day when the Buckeyes will have their first one-day position camp of the summer and there's a better-than-average chance Martell will put on his cleats and get some work in with Tim Beck and Urban Meyer.

Last week, Martell listed a Top Seven schools list that he's narrowed down twice since, removing West Virginia and Miami from his list. He's got five schools left and it'd not be a surprise if he removed another one or two of them in the next week or two. It would be a surprise if a commitment happened this weekend, but there's bound to be some speculation about that possibility. Anything can happen in recruiting, but it's not expected this weekend.

NEW BASKETBALL OFFER GOES OUT TO ON-CAMPUS VISITOR

Ohio State had a big basketball visitor Wednesday and extended him a scholarship offer during his trip.

That is Indianapolis 2017 prospect Kris Wilkes, a 6-foot-7, 190-pound wing at North Central High School. 

Expect Wilkes to narrow down his schools to five by the end of this upcoming summer. He's predicted by most to end up at Kentucky (he's a five-star prospect, so ya know, Kentucky), but the Wildcats haven't offered yet. Ohio State's offer puts them in the mix with Indiana, UCLA, Maryland, Kansas, Notre Dame and others.

OHIO STATE STAFF HEADS TO NEW JERSEY

As noted, the Buckeyes began their camp season today but the day's biggest camp was taking place a few hours east, in New Jersey. Urban Meyer, Greg Schiano, Ed Warinner, Larry Johnson and Mark Pantoni all departed from Columbus around 3 p.m. to assist new Rutgers' head coach Chris Ash and his Scarlet Knights' staff at the Tristate Showcase in Teaneck.

Ohio State's presence at the camp is vital for Ash and Rutgers, who are going head-to-head with Michigan as they host a camp down the road at Paramus Catholic High School. The Buckeyes have worked hard in recent years to make themselves a force in the Garden State and Wednesday night's camp will put them in front of a few big-time targets, but make no mistake: this is about solidarity with Ash against the Michigan onslaught in New Jersey.

Speaking of Michigan...

Jim Harbaugh has been scheduled to deliver the commencement speech this Thursday at Paramus Catholic for a while now, but that relationship took another turn as it was announced the Paladins would play a game this September at Michigan Stadium, the day before Michigan opens their season against Hawai'i.

Michigan and Paramus Catholic have been as close as peas and carrots since the Wolverines signed Jabrill Peppers in the 2014 recruiting class. UM's linebacker coach, Chris Partridge, was Peppers' coach at Paramus and he helped deliver the country's top overall prospect (Rashan Gary) to Ann Arbor in 2016, and Gary is at the UM camp tonight.

The country's third-ranked 2017 outside linebacker, Drew Singleton, is a star at Paramus and Michigan is expected to be his ultimate landing spot, as it is for three-star defensive tackle Corey Bolds. The Maize and Blue have already offered Paramus 2018 quarterback Allan Walters, too. 

For the record, the game at the Big House on Sept. 2? St. Frances Academy from Baltimore, Maryland.

St. Frances is where the coaches from new Michigan assistant Biff Poggi's former Gilman High School staff now reside. Poggi was a major name in the DMV high school circuit for years before he started with the Wolverines in February; his son Henry is a tight end at Michigan. St. Frances was a key part of Michigan's satellite camp in Baltimore earlier in the week and is rumored to be close to landing Texas four-star quarterback Jalen Mayden from Sachse, Texas.

Satellite camps, the spirit of them anyway, are a good thing. Right now though it's clear that they're being misused as nothing more than glorified recruiting opportunities for programs looking to get closer to key players across the country.

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