The Hurry Up: Big Recruiting Weekend on Tap, Hawaiian Takes Unofficial Visit and Ohio State Offers Tennessee Safety

By Andrew Lind on March 24, 2017 at 7:15 pm
Brendon Harris
Brendon Harris
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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.

ON THE DOCKET

With spring practice in full swing, Ohio State will host a number of big-time prospects this weekend, including:

While Oats is likely the only one on commitment watch, every other visit is still important in its own way.

L'Christian Smith is still deciding between playing football or basketball at the next level, but has recently been trending toward Kentucky. Tyreke Smith, meanwhile, has not been to campus since the Buckeyes offered in late January.

Friday and Scruggs are likely to sign somewhere other than Ohio State, but the staff will still try their hardest to pull them away from Michigan and Penn State, respectively. And Pappoe, the top-rated linebacker in the country, will have his first one-on-one meeting with head coach Urban Meyer.

As always, we'll catch up with each of them in the days after their visit, so stay tuned.

ALOHA

In its 127-year history, the Ohio State football program has had only one player from the state of Hawaii, Scott Terna. More than 20 years have passed since punter for the Buckeyes, but Terna is still making his presence known.

In fact, he played a rather large role in setting up an unofficial visit for Kapolei, Hawaii, Damien offensive tackle Julius Buelow.

"My great-grandparents and my grandpa's brother live in Cincy, so we came to visit them. And my mom has cousins in Columbus," Buelow told Eleven Warriors. "We came to visit them and didn't know when we'd be back up here, so we scheduled a tour of Ohio State, then ended up adding visits to the football facilities at both Ohio State and Cincinnati because my offensive line coach Brian Derby has a former player here [Terna], and he helped us meet everyone."

The 6-foot-7, 292-pound Buelow currently holds offers from BYU, Hawai'i and Oregon State, but said his visit to Ohio State was like no other. He actually called it a bit overwhelming, but enjoyed meeting the coaching staff.

"They said they'll be watching my film and how things go for me this coming season," Buelow said. "I still have a lot to work on, but I have great coaches and trainers at home, so I'm excited for the future.

"It would be a huge honor [to get an offer]," he continued. "It doesn't get bigger than Ohio State, and Cincinnati looks like they have a great thing going in their program."

Now it goes without saying Columbus is quite the trip from home, but the Buckeyes would certainly find themselves in the running if the staff were to offer.

"I had been set on staying on the West Coast. But after the visits this week, I'd definitely consider Ohio, especially since my family is here," Buelow said. "I've wanted to go out of state for college since elementary and I like coming to the mainland. Hawai'i is great, too. but I like the idea of going away and being on my own but with family still kind of close by."

FOR WHOM DAVID BELL TOLLS

Four-star wide receiver David Bell was among the handful of prospects from Indianapolis, Indiana, Warren Central to visit Ohio State this week.

"It went well," Bell told Eleven Warriors. "The intensity of the practice really stood out to me."

The group, which included offensive tackle Justin Britt, safety Julius Brents and wide receiver Chris Atkins, also toured the trophy, locker and weight rooms.

"Watching them practice was awesome, and we talked to a couple of coaches," Britt said. "At the end of practice, coach [Greg] Stud[rawa] came over and talked to me. He said that he wanted me to go to some summer camps."

None of the Warriors walked away with an offer, but they'll look to return for camp in June with high hopes.

ANOTHER VONN BELL, ANYONE?

Ohio State also offered a scholarship Thursday afternoon to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Baylor School four-star safety Brendon Harris.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Harris is considered the 10th-best safety and No. 109 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He holds 18 offers from programs such as Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Harris recorded 76 tackles and five interceptions for the Red Raiders last season. He also chipped in more than 600 yards rushing and five scores when asked to play both ways late in the season.

For what it's worth, it worked out well for the Buckeyes last time they offered a highly sought-after safety from that area.

CIRCLING BACK

Ohio State hosted several local prospects for spring practice this week, including Reynoldsburg linebacker Dezman Cooper.

"They took me on a tour and I met some coaches," Cooper told Eleven Warriors, noting this wasn't his first time on campus. "The things that stood out to me the most this time was the practice atmosphere and how big the weight room is because I didn't get to see it the last time I went. And the recruiter [Ed Terwilliger] was talking to me a lot about the team and everything."

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Cooper is not yet ranked by any major recruiting sites nor does he hold any offers, but certainly has the size and athleticism to be one of the top-rated outside linebackers in the Class of 2019. He showed as much at the Best of the Midwest Combine in Indianapolis last month.

Cooper recorded 26 tackles, three tackles for a loss, one interception and one sack for the Raiders last season.

In addition to Ohio State, Cincinnati and Michigan State have also shown significant interest.

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