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.
NEVER A DOUBT
New Castle, Pennsylvania, three-star cornerback Marcus Hooker committed to Ohio State this afternoon, which shouldn't come as a surprise given the impact his older brother, Malik, had in Columbus. But aside from the obviously chance to continue that legacy, a number of other factors ultimately led to Hooker's pledge.
“I think, when you walk on campus at Ohio State, it's a different atmosphere — and that certainly comes from the top down,” New Castle head coach Joe Cowart told Eleven Warriors when asked why he felt Hooker may end up with the Buckeyes. In the interest of full disclosure, our conversation ended within the same minute as Hooker's decision. “With coach [Urban] Meyer, who's just a first-class guy, coach [Greg] Schiano, coach [Mark] Pantoni and the rest of the staff. Those guys are just the best in the business, and it stands out and sticks out like a sore thumb when you get there.”
The 6-foot, 180-pound Hooker has been on campus numerous times, of course, as he watched Malik blossom from a three-star prospect still learning to play the game after focusing more so on basketball in high school to a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. It wasn't until he earned an offer from Ohio State on Wednesday night, though, that anyone seriously considered him following in his brother's footsteps.
Hooker held 11 other offers from programs such as Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Toledo and West Virginia, and most assumed he'd end up with the Panthers if the Buckeyes never came calling.
Schiano has long been a big fan of Hooker's, though, and his stellar performance at Friday Night Lights this past weekend cemented those feelings. And with an offer in hand, Hooker sat down with his family and coaches and compared each school.
None of them could stack up to Ohio State on and off the field.
“The coaching staff and the administrators there have a superb plan to develop the human being, not just the football player,” Cowart said. “Obviously, it's a business and it's a matter of winning football games, so they're going to offer the kids they thing is going to help them win games. But their ability to develop players into men at such a unique time in their life is different. You hear more of that talk when you're there than you do at other places — and I'm not trying to do a disservice to any other program — but at Ohio State, those are the things that stick out to me as a football coach.
"You say, 'Wow. That's a unique atmosphere.'”
AND WE'VE KNOWN THIS, MAN
Though he said as much during Nike Football's The Opening Finals earlier this month, WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported on Thursday afternoon that Fairfield five-star offensive tackle Jackson Carman has narrowed down his more than 40 offers to Clemson, Florida State, Ohio State, USC and Wisconsin.
Fairfield football standout Jack Carman narrows his college choices to five schools https://t.co/umE3YxI3xV
— Mike Dyer (@MikeDyer) July 27, 2017
The 6-foot-6, 360-pound Carman is considered the top-rated offensive tackle and No. 8 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He reportedly plans to formally announce his Top 5 later this summer and take official visits to all five schools this fall.
You can certainly expect his December decision to come down to the Buckeyes and Tigers, though things seem to be trending toward the former after Carman showed up unannounced at Ohio State's Friday Night Lights instead of Clemson's All-In Cookout this past weekend.
SHUTTING THINGS DOWN, TOO
Just like fellow four-star safety commit Jaiden Woodbey did one day prior, Josh Proctor announced on Thursday he was shutting down his recruitment entirely.
I am officially shutting down my recruitment I want to thank all the programs who have recruited me in this process.. #Shhh18 pic.twitter.com/qYbdrQaGpA
— Josh (@Jproctor_2018) July 27, 2017
Not that there was any real concern of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Proctor switching his pledge to a school like Oklahoma, but the announcement should certainly end the talk about him potentially visiting Norman this fall — Owasso, Proctor's hometown, is, after all, only 136 miles from the Sooners' campus.
Proctor's visit for Friday Night Lights marked his first trip to campus since committing during the Spring Game in mid-April, so the timing of his announcement just seems right.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
With coaches finally getting back in the swing of things following vacation — see: recruiting calendar dead period — Ohio State has handed out a number of new offers in the last week or so.
Among the most recent? Oak Park, Michigan, offensive guard Justin Rogers, who attended a one-day camp in early June alongside his teammate, three-star quarterback Dwan Mathis.
I am blessed and honored to receive an offer from Ohio state University #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/yT5XPcbAg3
— Hollywood#52 (@JustinR61966954) July 26, 2017
"I was like, 'Wow. They really just offered me," Rogers told Eleven Warriors. "It's big-time. Real big for me right now."
The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Rogers is only entering his sophomore year of high school, so he doesn't have a ranking from any of the four major recruiting sites. I have a feeling, though, he'll be one of the top-rated prospects in the Class of 2020, as programs such as Kentucky, Maryland, Pittsburgh and Syracuse have already offered, while Michigan and Michigan State have also shown significant interest.
Rogers and Mathis both attended a one-day camp in early June and returned to campus for Friday Night Lights this past weekend.
"It was really good," Rogers said of the visit. "I like the campus, good coaching staff and people surrounding you."
Rogers, who added he's nowhere close to making a decision, hopes to get back to back to Columbus for a game or two this fall.
JUST FOR APPEARANCES
Just a few weeks after he included Ohio State in his Top 5 alongside Alabama, Penn State, UCLA and USF, Tampa Hillsborough three-star cornerback Ken Montgomery Jr. committed to the Bruins on Thursday evening.
BREAKING: Hillsborough 2018 DB Ken Montgomery has announced his commitment to #UCLA: @HHS_Terriers @KenKensmiley5
— HSSportsFlorida (@HSSportsFL) July 27, 2017
The 6-foot-2, 155-pound Montgomery is considered the 38th-best cornerback and No. 385 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, as he recorded 30 tackles, 10 pass break ups and a forced fumble for the Terriers last season. Defensive coordinator Greg Schiano and assistant coordinator Kerry Coombs offered him a scholarship following an in-school visit with his coach in January, but he didn't make a trip to campus in the months since.
Seeing as the Buckeyes just landed a commitment from the above-mentioned Hooker and remain in pursuit of Texas five-star cornerback Anthony Cook, there was no reason to think his interest in the Buckeyes was anything more than window dressing.
Given Ohio State's knack for sending defensive backs — or any position, really — to the National Football League, it should come as no surprise when prospects include the Buckeyes among their top schools. Whether the program has legitimate interest or the prospect has a committable offer is another thing, though.
