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 FELT RIGHT
Late Wednesday night, Ohio State landed a commitment from Arizona four-star running back — and Akron native — Darvon Hubbard.
“It’s home,” Hubbard told Eleven Warriors. “You know, I grew up watching these guys and modeling my game after their past running backs.”
The 6-foot, 200-pound Hubbard picked up an offer from the Buckeyes following a pair of strong camp performances last month, and most deemed his pledge inevitable. However, programs like Georgia, LSU, Nebraska and Utah made the decision much harder than he originally expected.
“Ultimately, [it came down to] me and coach [Tony] Alford’s relationship,” Hubbard said, reiterating that they’ve known one another since he was in eighth grade.
Hubbard didn’t anticipate he’d make a decision on his future until later in the process, likely well into his senior year. But with the members of Ohio State’s yet-to-be-named 2020 recruiting class — including his teammate, four-star quarterback Jack Miller III — constantly in his ear, he decided to end his recruitment altogether.
“Honestly, it just felt right,” Hubbard said of the timing. “Our 2020 class is already crazy. I was just adding fuel to the fire.”
THERE'S ROOM AT THE INN
Ohio State welcomed Ferndale, Washington, four-star offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett to campus on Thursday for an unofficial visit.
Amazing day at THE Ohio State University!Thank you @OSUCoachMeyer @OhioStateFB @CoachStudOL @markpantoni @WestonZernechel @ParisJohnsonJr #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/UO9By1VpjG
— Geirean (@GeireanHatchett) July 26, 2018
“The visit was really awesome,” Hatchett told Eleven Warriors. “It was the first time I got to talk with coach [Urban] Meyer, which was really cool just hearing everything he had to say to me. Then getting to sit down and talk with coach [Greg] Stud[rawa] was really cool, too, because I’ve only talked with him on the phone.
“They both said, from the football side of things, that they really want me, feel like I would be a great fit for the program and that I have a spot if I want it. On the non-football side of things, we talked about tons of different things like what we like to do outside of football and other sports interests. It was really awesome.”
The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Hatchett is considered the seventh-best offensive guard and No. 203 prospect overall in the Class of 2020. He holds nearly two dozen offers from programs such as Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Washington and Washington State.
As mentioned, he hung out with Meyer and offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and toured the Buckeyes’ facilities. That includes Ohio Stadium, the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and the student-athlete dorm rooms.
“Their facilities and campus were both very impressive,” Hatchett said. “Just how nice and thought out they both were was very impressive.”
Hatchett was met on campus by five-star offensive tackle commit Paris Johnson Jr., who was scheduled to visit Ohio State this weekend. Assuming the role of lead recruiter in his class, Johnson made the trip from Cincinnati a few days early in order to spend time Hatchett.
“We met at a visit to USC at the end of June, and since then we have been talking quite a bit,” Hatchett said. “Once he heard that I was making the trip, he told me that he had to get here early and try to get me on board. It was definitely really cool having him around since we already have a great relationship.”
Hatchett plans to return to campus again sooner rather than later, hopefully for a game in the fall. He hopes to narrow his list of offers this fall and then make a decision ahead of his senior season.
“I still have a while before I make any decisions, but Ohio State is definitely a school that I will be looking at,” Hatchett said.
COMING IN SECOND [BY CHOICE]
Griffin, Georgia, Spalding four-star athlete Zion Puckett told Eleven Warriors on Friday he has included Ohio State in his Final 5 alongside Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“The Buckeyes made the cut because I have a connection with the coaches, talking to them the majority of the time,” Puckett said.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Puckett is considered the 12th-best athlete and No. 149 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, but the Buckeyes are recruiting him as both a wide receiver and cornerback. He hauled in 36 receptions for 660 yards and five touchdowns and recorded 40 tackles, one interception and one tackle for a loss for the Jaguars last season.
Puckett visited Ohio State for the first and only time with his mother for the Spring Game back in April. They spent a considerable amount of time that weekend with Meyer, defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach/area recruiter Alex Grinch and former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, and also got to see some family that lives in the area.
Puckett plans to make a decision within the next few weeks, and hopes to make it back to Columbus before then.
“I definitely will try,” he said.
All that said, Puckett sits behind a number of targets on both sides of the ball for the Buckeyes. So if he’s truly determined to end his recruitment before he begins his senior season, then the Tigers will be the choice.
