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.
JUST A PIT STOP
Friday Night Lights continues to inch closer and closer, and new prospects announce their intentions to attend the premier recruiting event of the summer seemingly every second.
One highly rated target — Clemmons, North Carolina, West Forsyth, five-star defensive end K.J. Henry — showed up a little early, though, as a 7-versus-7 tournament in Canton this weekend will prevent him from participating in the camp tomorrow.
— K5 (@thekjhenry_) July 20, 2017
This marks the second trip to Columbus for the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Henry, who is considered the second-best defensive end and No. 15 prospect overall in the Class of 2018 after he recorded 17 sacks and six blocked punts for the Titans last season. He also attended November's double-overtime win over Michigan.
Henry, who included Ohio State in his Top 10 in late April alongside Alabama, Clemson, Charlotte, Georgia, Louisville, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, has been very receptive of the Buckeyes' plan for him while on campus and for life after football.
He plans to unveil a list of five schools that will receive official visits this fall and ultimately vie for his services on National Signing Day.
WELCOME BACK
Several commits will be back on campus for the star-studded event, but none may be more highly anticipated than the return of four-star quarterback Emory Jones and soon-to-be five-star tight end Jeremy Ruckert. They both announced their intentions to attend on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
I'll be at FNL Can't wait to be back in Columbus this weekend pic.twitter.com/emi6CtYawj
— Emory Jones (@eXjones6) July 20, 2017
Can't wait to get back to Columbus this weekend!! First time visiting as a BUCKEYE #BuckeyeNation #FNL pic.twitter.com/VbR3iPkVIU
— Jeremy Ruckert (@Jeremy_Ruckert1) July 19, 2017
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Jones — fresh off a reportedly surreptitious trip to Alabama last weekend — will be making his third trip to campus since April, which includes visits for the Spring Game and a one-day camp in June. He has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to the Buckeyes, which came shortly after he attended Friday Night Lights last summer, and I suggest you take him at his word.
The 6-foot-6, 238-pound Ruckert, meanwhile, will make his first trip to campus since committing to Ohio State on Monday. He previously held off on making an announcement on his intentions on whether or not he would attend as to not give away his decision.
Pledges Brenton Cox, Dallas Gant, Jaelen Gill, Josh Proctor, Brian Snead, Master Teague III, Jaiden Woodbey and Max Wray will also be in attendance.
SO MUCH FOR THAT
Just hours after he told Eleven Warriors he would be attending Friday Night Lights, Detroit Cass Tech four-star cornerback Kalon Gervin announced he would instead visit Virginia Tech this weekend. He was previously supposed to attend Ohio State's one-day camp on June 17, but called that visit off, too.
Change of plans! I will be in Blacksburg this weekend!
— Kalon Gervin (@KalonGervin) July 20, 2017
The Hokies are the overwhelming favorite to land the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Gervin, who is considered the 21st-best cornerback and No. 200 prospect overall in the Class of 2018 after he recorded 23 tackles, 14 pass deflections and one interception to help the Technicians to the state championship last season. He committed to Notre Dame one week after the Fighting Irish offered him a scholarship in February, but reopened his recruitment in early May to explore his options.
Gervin has since released a Top 5 of Louisville, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia Tech, though landing an offer from Ohio State may have changed the course of his recruiting. There was hope for that this weekend, but because it was far from a certainty, Gervin decided a trip to Blacksburg was in his best interest instead.
With that said, I expect him to commit to the Hokies this weekend.
I HAVE A FEELING ABOUT THIS KID
One prospect I'll be keeping an eye on this weekend is University School of Nova Southeastern University four-star athlete Kenny McIntosh.
Ohio State this weekend
— Blueprint#1 (@dattboikenny) July 20, 2017
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound McIntosh is considered the 12th-best athlete and No. 139 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, as recorded 1,189 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns while primarily playing running back for the Sharks last season. He holds 21 offers from programs such as Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame.
This will be the third trip to Columbus for McIntosh, who is also a star on the basketball court. The Buckeyes offered him and his teammate, five-star safety Josh Sanguinetti, back in January.
"I've been there, just never seen the football side," McIntosh told Eleven Warriors. "It was always basketball."
Note: I'll have a complete list of expected attendees in the morning and a few bold predictions tomorrow afternoon.
