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.
LISTS, LISTS AND MORE LISTS
List cutting season is here in earnest, and highest-rated target to narrow things down this weekend was Bradenton, Florida, IMG Academy four-star offensive guard Verdis Brown. He listed Ohio State in his Top 10 on Friday night alongside Florida State, Illinois, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and UCLA.
#LSU #GoNoles #ILLINI #GOBLUE #Mizzou #GOPHERS #SOONERS #BUCKEYES #VOLS #UCLA pic.twitter.com/BiB4D1x7NE
— Verdisbrown77 (@verdisbrown) May 6, 2017
The 6-foot-3, 294-pound Brown is considered the sixth-best offensive guard and No. 165 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He earned an offer from the Buckeyes during a one-day camp in Columbus last June.
Brown, who transferred to IMG from Chicago's Mount Carmel this offseason, was also campus for November's double-overtime win over Michigan.
Ohio State is set to take two offensive guards in next year's recruiting class — and that wouldn't include Jake Kradel, who's been earmarked for center and is set to announce his college decision next month — so there's a very good chance the Buckeyes land Brown down the road.
He's close with offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and fellow Chicagoan Jamarco Jones, too, and that certainly works in their favor.
Tucker, Georgia, three-star linebacker Michael Harris also trimmed his list to seven on Saturday night, mentioning Ohio State alongside Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and South Carolina.
TOP 7 . Always subject to change but this is where I feel best at. Thank God for the blessings. Please Respect My Decision. pic.twitter.com/Rt3LG4OCol
— Money Mike (@Illionairemike) May 6, 2017
The 6-foot-2, 213-pound Harris is considered the 14th-best inside linebacker and No. 343 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He's a Springfield native and has said for months he'd commit to Ohio State when he got the necessary test scores.
Things aren't that simple, though, and I recently talked about how the staff's pursuit of Virginia Beach five-star linebacker Teradja Mitchell affects Harris:
Yes, the Buckeyes plan to take anywhere from three to five linebackers in the Class of 2018. But both Harris and Mitchell are inside linebackers, and you're going to take the higher-rated one every time.
Harris also hasn't visited Ohio State and has no plans to do so anytime soon, though linebackers coach Bill Davis stopped by Tucker today. He has been to Auburn and Georgia in the last few months, meanwhile, and continues to build a strong relationship with both staffs.
Point blank: The longer he goes without a trip to Columbus, the less likely Harris ends up with the Buckeyes. As of right now, I think he picks the Tigers sometime this summer.
Things continuously change on the recruiting trail, though, and Mitchell is reportedly torn between Ohio State and Florida State. If he chooses the Seminoles, Harris becomes the priority again. A source close to him recently told me the Buckeyes continue to lead in spite of that, but it's becoming a matter of waiting to see how things unfold.
And last but not least, Covington, Georgia, Newton three-star defensive tackle Darnell Jefferies cut his list of 25 offers to an even 10 on Friday night. He listed Ohio State alongside Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon and South Carolina.
TOP TEN pic.twitter.com/bxkLz1g7th
— darnelljeffries41@gm (@darnelljeffrie1) May 6, 2017
The 6-foot-3, 275-pound Jefferies is considered the 30th-best defensive tackle and No. 370 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, having recorded 76 tackles, 42 quarterback hurries and two sacks for the Rams last season. The Buckeyes offered him a scholarship in late March, so the two sides are still just getting to know each other.
Ohio State already holds a commitment from five-star Taron Vincent and remains in the hunt for higher-rated defensive tackles such as Archbishop Moeller's Aeneas Hawkins and Maryland's P.J. Mustipher, to name a few, so a number of other options would have to fall through for Jefferies to end up in Columbus.
He's also good friends with Clemson defensive end commit Justin Mascoll, so it's widely assumed he'll eventually end up with the Tigers anyway.
TRENDING IN TENNESSEE
Ohio State is in the beginning stages of getting to know Knoxville, Tennessee, Catholic offensive tackle Bryn Tucker, meanwhile, offering him a scholarship on Friday night.
Blessed to receive an offer from The Ohio State University #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/brveb3h2Ba
— Bryn Tucker (@TuckerBryn) May 5, 2017
"I was really excited," Tucker told Eleven Warriors, explaining how assistant director of player personnel Eron Hodges called his head coach to deliver the news.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Tucker is not yet ranked by any major recruiting services, but is already one of the most sought-after prospects from the Class of 2020 with offers from Alabama, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee. He becomes only the fourth current freshman to earn an offer from the Buckeyes, too, joining fellow Tennessean Jake Wray.
"We train with each other sometimes," Tucker said of Wray.
Tucker was on campus for the first time for last year's win over Indiana, and hopes for return for a game this fall.
