The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
FALO UP
Earlier this month, four-star Sacramento, California, tight end Josh Falo released a Top 10 list that included some of the best programs in the country. Absent from the list? Ohio State, which finally offered the 6-foot-5, 227-pounder on Wednesday morning.
Very blessed to say that I have received a scholarship to The Ohio State University!!! #BuckeyeNation #ZONE6 pic.twitter.com/Qa8weuqPuF
— Josh K. Falo (@Josh_falo) August 24, 2016
Falo, who is considered by 247Sports Composite Rankings as the No. 5 tight end in the Class of 2017, caught only 11 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns last season at Inderkum High; the Tigers rushed for more than 5,000 yards on their way to the state semifinals. He is expected to announce his final decision at the Under Armour All-American game in January.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, do not have a tight end pledge in their 2017 class. It's unclear at this time whether they'd have room for Falo, however.
TWO FOR ONE?
Ohio State on Monday became the first program to offer Saint Simmons Island, Georgia, cornerback Jaylin Simpson, who graciously gave a few minutes of his time today.
“[The offer] means a lot,” he told Eleven Warriors, mentioning the bond he has with his teammate Jashawn Sheffield, whom the Buckeyes offered late last month. “He's like my brother, and we have always talked about playing together.”
It's no surprise, then, that the two were already planning to take an unofficial visit to Columbus this fall, even before 5-foot-11, 165-pounder got the call. And while it's still too early for the high school sophomore to make any decisions, Simpson said there's the possibility that he and Sheffield are part of a package deal.
“We left middle school together and came to Fredricka [Academy] together, so you never know,” he said.
Tennessee followed Ohio State's lead by extending a scholarship offer to Simpson just 45 minutes later, so he said he plans on taking a trip to Knoxville, as well.
SMOKE SIGNALS
Speaking of the Volunteers, a pair of Ohio State's 2017 targets are pretty high on signing Rocky Top all night long.
First, four-star Clairton, Pennsylvania, cornerback Lamont Wade is set to unofficially visit Knoxville one week from tomorrow for Tennessee's season opener against Appalachian State.
I will be in Tennessee next week for the first game #RockyTop
— 38Savage (@Goony_38) August 23, 2016
It will mark the 5-foot-9, 185-pound prospect's second trip to the campus in roughly one year.
“Neyland is the best stadium I've ever visited,” Wade told SEC Country. “I visited for the [Georgia] game last year and really liked the energy and everything about Tennessee.”
The nation's sixth-rated cornerback, according to 247Sports Composite, included Alabama, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, West Virginia and UCLA when he narrowed down his list of potential college suitors to eight programs last month. He's made two trips to Pittsburgh in the weeks since, but plans on taking an official visit to Columbus either the weekend the Buckeyes host Nebraska (Nov. 5) or Michigan (Nov. 26).
That said, Wade is plenty interested in the Volunteers.
“Tennessee is one of my top schools,” he said. “I could see myself playing football at Tennessee.”
Meanwhile, another prospect that Ohio State might not have room for in its 2017 class is four-star Cleveland Heights wide receiver Jaylen Harris.
He told SEC Country that the recent addition of five-stars Trevon Grimes and Tyjon Lindsey haven't changed his thinking about the Buckeyes, whom he listed in his Top 5 earlier this month.
“I know spots are tight,” he said, “but at the end of the day, I feel like if a spot was to open up and I wanted to go to Ohio State, I would. If that's where I wanted to go, it wouldn't be a problem with whatever receiver is there because I feel like I know I'm going to compete and compete hard and outwork everybody at my position.”
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Harris also included Tennessee in his final five, along with Alabama, Michigan State and Penn State, and the Volunteers would be ecstatic if Ohio State's number crunch left him on the outside looking in.
“I love Tennessee,” he said. “Coach [Butch] Jones and coach [Zach] Azzanni have been recruiting me real tough. We've built a great relationship. Every time I go to Tennessee, I feel mad love.”
Harris hasn't set any official visits yet, and it's unclear when he will.
“It's funny,” he said. “One day I wake up and want to take all my officials. The next day, I don't want to take any. Then some days, I want to take just a couple. I'm all over the place. I'm not too sure.”
Nevertheless, we'll keep you updated when he finally decides to visit Columbus in an official capacity, though he's been numerous times over the past year including for Friday Night Lights last month.
MAUALUGA CLONE
Though he looks like a prototypical USC linebacker, and I, therefore, was tempted to make a Crystal Ball prediction for the Trojans before getting to know anything about him, Claremont, California's, Solomon Tuliaupupu has received a lot of interest from schools across the country. As Rivals.com points out ($), Ohio State has recently checked in on the four-star 2018 recruit.
“I'm hearing more from Ohio State, Florida, Florida State and LSU,” Tuliaupupu said. “They're mostly coaching me up on their program history and how I could fit into their defensive scheme for Ohio State.”
#OhioState #UF #FSU #LSU all interested in 2018 four-star LB Solomon Tuliaupupu https://t.co/M6NW48yi3u pic.twitter.com/d8bKxQhW9Y
— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) August 24, 2016
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Tuliaupupu is considered the sixth-best outside linebacker and the No. 130 overall prospect in his recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. He has 14 offers from programs like Boise State, BYU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, BYU and Washington.
