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.
ALREADY A BUCKEYE ...
If you read the front of his game jersey, you have to wonder, "Is it an omen for his future?"
Nelsonville-York (Nelsonville, Ohio) running back Keegan Wilburn is already a Buckeye, thanks to his school's mascot. He wouldn't mind being a Buckeye at the next level either.
Wilburn, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior, rushed for 1,039 yards and 15 touchdowns this fall on just 134 carries. That follows a sophomore year where he posted 1,254 yards and 14 scores on 166 carries. Overall, his career yards per carry average stands at 7.4.
But he still expects more out of himself.
"Junior season was definitely a learning year for myself and the team. We graduated 16 seniors at a D6 school, so thats a large blow," Wilburn told Eleven Warriors. "Individually, I didn’t have the statistics i would have liked. However, I feel like I got a lot bigger, faster, and stronger which will help me out in the long run. Thankfully, I was able to earn Player of the Year in my district, which was pretty cool."
Wilburn says his recruiting process is beginning to heat up and his Twitter account supports that statement. While he has just one offer, from Ohio University which is just a 20-minute drive from Nelsonville-York, Wilburn has taken visits to Cincinnati, Miami (OH), Bowling Green State and Pittsburgh. He also plans to visit Rice, Duke, Michigan State and Indiana .. all of which have been in frequent contact with him.
While he has had no interest, yet, from Ohio State, he would welcome it with open arms.
"I’ve had no interest from Ohio State, other than a coach simply asking where I was from when I went to camp," he said. "I was inside of the complex with the elite receivers and cornerbacks with all of their prospects and picked up my OU offer later that day. OSU has just always been very prestigious and it’s definitely a goal to play at that level."
As his recruitment process ramps up, Wilburn already has a plan in place.
"I think I need to work on getting bigger, faster, stronger as always. Then, I also need to learn more about the game. Whenever I’d line up in the slot, or wide for that matter, I was 99 percent of the time double and triple-teamed. So I need to learn new concepts and technique to get myself open. I would like to pick up some more offers along the way just to have options, but the most important goal I have is to make a run in the playoffs for my final year of high school."
DWAN MATHIS DROPS A HIGHLIGHT TAPE
If you haven't noticed, 2019 quarterback commit Dwan Mathis is still really good.
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound quarterback released his senior highlight tape on Tuesday, via Twitter. It's as you might expect it to be: fun to watch.
According to Lettermen Row's Jeremy Birmingham, Mathis intends to enroll early.
From Birmingham:
“I’m getting everything lined up now [to enroll early],” Mathis told Lettermen Row. “I have to finish two more online classes and then I’ll be cleared. I am trying to come in there and grind.”
That’s good news for Ohio State and for Mathis. The benefits of enrolling early, for those who are capable of doing it, are obvious. It’s six more months of a college weight program, six more months of learning an offense and six more months of gaining insight into how to better manage time, expectations and other realities of college football
Mathis led Oak Park High School to a playoff berth this past season, one in which the Knights finished 9-2 overall and 6-0 in the Oakland Activities Association-White Conference.
COMMITS RISE, DROP IN UPDATED TOP247 RANKINGS
247Sports.com released an updated Top247 rankings list Tuesday for the class of 2019 and current Ohio State commits saw a slight uptick in their placing while others fell.
Out of 15 class of 2019 commits, nine were included in the Top247 list.
Leading the way for Ohio State's jumps were Ronnie Hickman (Wayne, N.J.) and Steele Chambers (Roswell, Ga.). Hickman went from No. 171 overall to No. 105 while Chambers moved from No. 173 to No. 147.
As for drops, Garrett Wilson (Austin, Texas) fell slightly from No. 12 to No. 16 while Jordan Battle (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) dropped five spots to No. 44 and Harry Miller (Buford, Ga.) and Cade Stover (Lexington, Ohio) each moved down one spot to No. 51 and 52, respectively.
Doug Nester (Huntington, W. Va.) and Jameson Williams (St. Louis, Mo.) also saw a drop in their ranking as Nester moved from No. 106 to No. 130 while Williams went from No. 132 to No. 139.
Still on top of the rankings is five-star defensive end and Georgia commit Nolan Smith, while LSU commit and cornerback Derek Stingley sits at No. 2. You'll recognize No. 5 on the list ... Mr. Zach Harrison of Olentangy Orange High School. Concerning Ohio State targets or commits, Harrison is ranked the highest on the list.
