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.
BUCKEYES OFFER TWO ATHLETES PREFERRED WALK-ON SPOTS
After landing Missouri wide receiver Jameson Williams less than a month ago, Ohio State continues to scavenge the Shoe Me State for future talent.
The Buckeye made two preferred walk-on offers this past weekend to 2019 tight end Niko Hea and 2019 cornerback Larry Williams, both of St. Louis Christian Brothers College. According to 247Sports, both are two-star prospects with Hea standing at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and Williams coming in at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds.
Honored to receive the chance to play at THE Ohio State University as a preferred walk on! pic.twitter.com/uKBjiGlv1V
— Niko Hea (@HeaNiko) October 27, 2018
Williams has offers from Illinois State, Indiana State, North Dakota and Eastern Kentucky while drawing interest from Illinois. He's considered Missouri's 46th-best prospect. Hea has received offers from Holy Cross, Fordham, Dartmouth and South Dakota, among others. He's considered Missouri's 53rd-best prospect.
Blessed to say I have received a PWO from the Ohio state university #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/LtVAtCGBZc
— larry williams (@_ljw1k) October 27, 2018
Remember, preferred walk-ons are in a better position than most to receive a scholarship offer but usually don't do so until their junior year. If a university gives a walk-on a scholarship after their freshman year, it still uses one of the 25 initial scholarships for that year. After two years with the program, a preferred walk-on can get a scholarship and it doesn't count as an incoming student.
Last week, the Buckeyes extended a preferred walk-on position to Buckeye's Ryan Smith, who accepted.
GARRETT WILSON AND MATTHEW BALDWIN REUNITE
When Matthew Baldwin was at Lake Travis High School (Austin, Texas), he was nothing short of magnificent. Just last season, Baldwin threw for over 4,000 yards and 44 touchdowns while completing over 70 percent of his passes. The Cavaliers finished 13-3 and reached Texas' 6A Division I state championship.
When Baldwin committed to Ohio State, Garrett Wilson was a junior at Lake Travis. Wilson later followed in his footsteps, becoming a Buckeye on April 29, 2018. Friday night, the former quarterback-receiver duo reunited as Baldwin visited Texas during the Buckeyes' bye week.
Baldwin and Wilson, who sat out of Friday's 55-23 win over Del Valle nursing a back injury, posed for a photo during the Cavaliers' victory.
Lake Travis great and current @OhioStateFB QB @matthewb_12 with #OhioState commit @GarrettWilson_V watching Lake Travis win 55-23 ! #LeaveNoDoubt #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/oDlT4NCljU
— Lake Travis Football (@LTHSCavFootball) October 27, 2018
Lake Travis is currently 7-1 with two regular season games left, coming against Buda Hays and Austin Anderson. Wilson is hoping to be 100 percent for another deep playoff run.
OHIO STATE MAKES OFFER TO FLORIDA RUNNING BACK
The love between Florida running backs and Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford continues to grow. Alford and the Buckeyes have been hot on the trail of IMG Academy's Noah Cain and Trinity Christian's Marcus Crowley as of late.
This past weekend, they made an offer to Cocoa athlete Caziah Holmes, a four-star 2020 prospect who's considered the state's 32nd-best overall prospect in his class. Holmes confirmed to Lettermen Row that Alford made him the offer.
Extremely blessed and honored to receive an offer Ohio State University @CocoaFootball @adam_franco @Cocoa_Schneider @CoachTonyAlford @OhioStateFB @CSwag7 @247Sports @Rivals @pheona762000 pic.twitter.com/izbTYs6Ctg
— 5stargeneral (@CaziahHolmes) October 25, 2018
The 6-foot, 175-pound recruit also has offers from Florida, Miami, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse.
URBAN MEYER SPENDS FRIDAY NIGHT VISITING ZACH HARRISON
After two early pit stops Friday on the recruiting trail, one to Strongsville guard J.D. Duplain and another to Mentor's future Buckeye duo of Ryan Jacoby and Noah Potter, Urban Meyer spend the latter part of his day trying to reel in the biggest fish.
Meyer joined defensive line coach Larry Johnson in Westerville to see Olentangy Orange (Lewis Center, Ohio) defensive end Zach Harrison ... who's easily the Buckeyes' biggest target left.
In a 17-0 win over Westerville South, the five-star prospect made 6 1/2 tackles, 1 1/2 for a loss, and recorded a sack. Meyer and Johnson's view came from the south end of the field, opposite of Michigan assistant Al Washington, who is said to have a good relationships with Harrison.
Next week, Harrison's Pioneers will match up with Ohio State target Cavon Butler, who Johnson also met with this week, and Toledo Whitmer in a postseason contest.
Both the Buckeyes and Wolverines' presence at Friday's game makes sense while Penn State is also very much in the mix. Less than three weeks ago, crystal ball projections were 100 percent in Ohio State's favor. As of now, the Buckeyes are at 88 percent with Michigan at 12 percent.
However, there is a bit of good news. Harrison announced a visit to Ohio State this coming Saturday when Nebraska comes to Columbus. He's been at both Penn State and Michigan this fall for visits but has yet to be at Ohio Stadium. Of course, this could be his first of two visits to the Shoe in November as he's expected to be on hand when Michigan comes to town as well.
