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.
LOTS OF OPTIONS
Orange City, Florida, University five-star running back Lorenzo Lingard was scheduled to be at the Iron Bowl this past weekend, but made an unexpected trip to Columbus for Ohio State's game against Michigan instead.
Ohio..is ...live!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/BtJghgpjNY
— Lorenzo Lingard (@d1champ99) November 26, 2016
“[It went] very well,” Lingard told Eleven Warriors. “[I liked] getting to see how professional Ohio State is with their football team and I liked how the fans are cool people.”
The 6-foot, 180-pounder is considered the second-best running back and the No. 15 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He currently holds more than two dozen scholarship offers from programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Tennessee, but said his relationship with running back coach Tony Alford is helps the Buckeyes stand out.
“I call coach Alford, 'Uncle Alford.' We talk every week,” Lingard said. “I'll say anyone close to Ohio State at this point is probably Miami and Auburn, but Ohio State has wings compared to their strides. Auburn does stand out, though.”
Lingard, who rushed for 1,442 yards and 23 touchdowns on 151 touches this season, doesn't have a timetable of when he'd like to narrow down his schools.
“If I do any time soon, I will let you know for sure,” Lingard said.
Ohio State, meanwhile, already holds a commitment from four-star running back Brian Snead and are considered among the favorites to land five-stars Zamir White and Jaelen Gill.
2019 FORD GT
North Stafford, Virginia, four-star running back Devyn Ford also made his first trip to Columbus since earning a scholarship offer from Ohio State back in August. He said the fight the Buckeyes showed in the second half stood out above all else.
“They didn't give up,” Ford told Eleven Warriors.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder is considered the top player in the commonwealth and the No. 12 prospect overall in the Class of 2019. He currently holds 22 offers from programs such as Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, South Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Ford said the Buckeyes and Tigers are two schools that stand out this early in the recruiting process.
“[Ohio State] has a lot of history with the accolades through the school,” he said.
MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
We mentioned last week Fairfield four-star defensive end Malik Vann would tag alongside teammate Jackson Carman on Saturday. The game, Vann said, was even better than he expected.
WHAT A GAME #GoBuckeyes
— Malik Vann (@_Next_Era1) November 26, 2016
“[The best part] was definitely the overtime,” Vann told Eleven Warriors.
The 6-foot-2, 243-pounder is considered the 10th-best defensive end and the No. 13 player in Ohio from the Class of 2018. He currently holds 17 offers from programs such as Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Tennessee, but called Ohio State one of his top schools.
“The only thing missing is the offer,” Vann said. “Maybe in the spring, it'll come, but I can't really be hung up on offers I don't have yet.”
Vann, who plans to announce his commitment next June, spent time with defensive line coach Larry Johnson prior to the game.
“He's a great coach and man,” Vann said. “And he's easy to talk to.”
JUST WARMING UP
The recruiting process is only getting started for Virginia Beach, Virginia, Bishop Sullivan freshman wide receiver Valerian “V.J.” Johnson Jr., but said his trip to Ohio State on Saturday topped any previous visit he's taken — that includes trips to Virginia Tech and West Virginia this season.
“I liked how the players never got mad at the kicker after he messed up,” Johnson told Eleven Warriors. “[The best part was when] Armani [Chatman] and I went into the locker room after we rushed the field.”
Littest game of the year pic.twitter.com/rUesPqphJ7
— VJ Johnson (@vj_johnson01) November 27, 2016
The 5-foot-8, 150-pounder is not yet ranked by any major recruiting sites, but currently holds an offer from Maryland and has received serious interest from Penn State, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
“I had a few catches and some starts, but nothing major for varsity,” Johnson said. “For junior varsity, I did pretty solid. I'll definitely have a bigger role in varsity next year since the starters at wide receiver were seniors.”
