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.
AROUND THE FINAL TURN
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, quarterbacks coach Tim Beck and defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday night for an in-home visit with five-star cornerback commit Shaun Wade.
Trinity Christian CB Shaun Wade and family get an in-home visit from Ohio State's Urban Meyer and Co. tonight. #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/w4BbBeyrnD
— Justin Barney (@JustinBarneyTU) December 6, 2016
Coaches cannot have face-to-face contact with a recruit or his parents after Sunday, meaning this is the last time the staff will meet with 6-foot-1, 177-pounder before he makes a final decision at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 7, 2017, in San Antonio, Texas.
Wade became the second member of the current recruiting class on the same day Ohio State beat Oregon to capture the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, but he has continued to look at other schools in the almost two years since to make sure he was making the right decision.
Wade has visited Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech this fall, and many believe he'll ultimately flip his pledge to the Crimson Tide next month.
Florida head coach Jim McElwain and various assistants visited Wade and his family during Trinity Christian's bye week, while Alabama's Nick Saban and Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente are expected this weekend.
Wade will play in the Florida Class 3A state championship game in Orlando on Saturday, after which his father, Randy, told Eleven Warriors they'll sit down as a family and discuss the pros and cons of each school.
ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER OPENS
Not often does the commitment of an offensive tackle have an effect on the standing of a player on the other side of the ball. But with five-star offensive tackle Trey Smith's decision today to attend Tennessee, the chances that four-star athlete Markquese Bell will end up at Ohio State have increased significantly.
I will be committing Sunday, Jan 1 at the @AllAmericaGame game in Orlando pic.twitter.com/fY8bUrAg80
— Markquese Bell (@MarkqueseB) December 5, 2016
Bell's recruitment has long been considered a waiting game. Commit now, and he's likely to end up at Rutgers. But in delaying his decision until the Under Armour All-American Game on Jan. 1, 2017, Bell can wait and see if Ohio State's scholarship crunch gets sorted out in the meantime.
If a number of other priority targets choose to go elsewhere in the coming month, the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder could easily slip into one of the five or six remaining spots available. Co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano is a big fan of Bell's, so he's certainly a prospect to sincerely pay attention to moving forward.
NO HARM IN TRYING
Last week, I mentioned how Texas' hiring of head coach Tom Herman would impact Ohio State's recruiting in the Lone Star State.
And though it's probably too late in the process for him to change the mind of any committed prospects from the current recruiting cycle, Herman's in-home visit with four-star running back pledge J.K. Dobbins shows he'll certainly still try.
Had great visits with two of the best in the state. Gotta keep the best in Texas home. These two are big pieces to the championship puzzle.
— Coach Tom Herman (@CoachTomHerman) December 6, 2016
Herman inherited the job with the Longhorns ranked No. 61 overall in the 247Sports Composite team rankings and only seven players committed.
Ohio State's second-ranked class, meanwhile, features two of the top six players in Texas in Dobbins and five-star linebacker Baron Browning. The Buckeyes also remain in pursuit of and may be even considered the favorites for five-stars Jeffrey Okudah and Marvin Wilson.
Simply put, it's highly unlikely Dobbins, who plans to enroll early, reverses course on his pledge. Especially considering the aforementioned dead period doesn't end until after he'd already be enrolled in classes in Columbus.
