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.
TRIP TO PARADISE
Oak Park, Michigan, five-star offensive guard Justin Rogers accepted an invitation to the Polynesian Bowl on Tuesday morning, which is the commitment he teased last week.
One of the top players and OGs in the Class of 2020 makes a commitment.
— Polynesian Bowl (@polynesiabowl) August 28, 2018
5 Justin Rogers (@AllAmerican52JR) has been selected as a 2020 POLYNESIAN BOWL ALL-STAR! #HawaiiBound #PolyBowl2K20 @SWiltfong247 @BrandonHuffman @GregBiggins @AllenTrieu @AndrewMLind pic.twitter.com/LxofOl7iDY
The 6-foot-3, 311-pound Rogers — who is considered the top-rated offensive guard and No. 15 prospect overall in the Class of 2020 — will join Ohio State five-star offensive tackle commit Paris Johnson Jr. and Washington D.C. five-star linebacker target Mekhail Sherman in Honolulu in January 2020.
Rogers, who included the Buckeyes in his Top 13 back in June, will return to campus for the game against Rutgers on Sept. 8.
The news was first reported by 247Sports and since confirmed by Eleven Warriors. He’ll be joined on the trip by his mother, as well as teammate Enzo Jennings, a four-star athlete who picked up an offer from Ohio State during an unofficial visit back in May. Four-star commit Dwan Mathis, meanwhile, is expected to attend this weekend's game against Oregon State.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST
With that said, the visitor list for Ohio State’s season opener against Oregon State is starting to come together. Among those set to be in attendance is Bay City, Michigan, Central three-star wide receiver Devell Washington.
“I’m excited to come back,” Washington told Eleven Warriors.
This will mark the third visit of the summer for the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Washington — who is considered the 84th-best wide receiver and No. 449 prospect overall in the Class of 2020 — as he earned an offer from the Buckeyes following his performance at Friday Night Lights and then returned to campus for a one-day visit late last month. He’ll be accompanied by his mother for the first time, however.
During his most recent trip to Columbus, Washington toured campus, met with academic advisors and spent a considerable amount of time with head coach Urban Meyer, interim wide receivers coach Brian Hartline and cornerbacks coach/area recruiter Taver Johnson. That was Hartline’s first weekend in his new role, having replaced the recently terminated Zach Smith just days prior.
“I don’t really have words to say how great he was,” Washington said, noting they’ve talk at least twice each week in the meantime. “He was teaching me things about how to think about the game on a whole new level. We talked about mechanics, route-running, academics and respect. It was game-changing for how I’ll go about playing football.”
Though Bay City dropped its season opener on Friday night, Washington put some of those lessons to use. His 75-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter showed exactly why he also holds offers from Michigan and Michigan State, among others.
That said, there’s no doubt Ohio State is the leader in his recruitment early in the process. And if the Buckeyes push for his commitment at any time in the process, I think they’d easily secure his pledge.
“I just love it there,” Washington said. “It feels like home.”
AS BIG AS A MACK TRUCK
Norwalk three-star offensive tackle Trey Leroux told Eleven Warriors he’ll be at Saturday’s game against Oregon State, as well.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the difference between the schools and the atmosphere there,” Leroux said.
This will also be the third trip to campus for the 6-foot-8, 320-pound Leroux, who is considered the seventh-best prospect in the state and No. 420 prospect overall in the Class of 2020, as he attended a one-day camp in early June and then returned for Friday Night Lights just a few weeks later.
“It was an amazing experience that is honestly unexplainable,” Leroux said, noting how worked directly with offensive line coach Greg Studrawa during both camps. “There is nothing like being coached and taught by some of the best coaches in the world, and the intensity of it was just amazing.”
Leroux — a heavyweight wrester who reached the state quarterfinals as a sophomore — has maintained contact with Studrawa in the weeks since. In fact, they spoke as recently as Sunday evening.
“He said that he likes that I am not afraid to put in work and that I know what I need to continue working on and the attenuate that I have toward the game in general,” Leroux said.
Leroux holds an offer from Toledo, but programs such as Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame have show interest in recent months. Ohio State is looking to add at least two more offensive linemen next cycle to complement the aforementioned Johnson, Georgia four-star tackle Jake Wray and New Jersey four-star guard Luke Wypler, so they’ll certainly keep an eye on his progress moving forward.
“It would be a huge honor [to land an offer from the Buckeyes],” Leroux said. “Ohio State is my dream school.”
