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.
STOVER ADDS TO TROPHY CASE
If you're talking about Lexington (Ohio) linebacker Cade Stover's list of accolades, it continues to grow by the day. After being named Division IV's Defensive Player of the Year, the Ohio State commit was named Ohio's Mr. Football on Wednesday.
From the Mansfield News Journal's Jake Furr:
Lexington senior Cade Stover doesn't usually sign his name with a courtesy title.
Now he can. Call him mister, as in Mr. Football Cade Stover.
On Wednesday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association, in coordination with the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association, announced they had selected Stover as Mr. Football for the 2018 high school football season.
"I couldn't even tell you what it is like right now," Stover said. "Just to be mentioned with all those guys who have won it, that is a sweet feeling. I don't know what else to say."
Furr's column that followed the announcement, which you can read here, also noted Stover's efforts off the field including him assisting a special needs student during Lexington's homecoming, the time he's spent with middle schoolers and the hours he's spent working on his family farm.
If you haven't noticed by now, the Buckeyes are getting a good one, on and off the field.
Stover finished his season with 175 tackles, 11 for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles, four interceptions and nine pass break ups. That's on defense. On offense, he had 1,497 rushing yards on 205 attempts alongside 18 touchdowns.
Lexington started this past season by dropping its first three games. But at 0-3, behind Stover, the Minutemen turned the ship around and finished the regular season winning six of their next seven. Then they handed Tiffin Columbian a 31-21 loss in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs. The season eventually ended in a loss to Sandusky on Nov. 9, but not before a little magic and a lot of Stover.
Stover was in attendance for Saturday's Ohio State-Michigan game. The 2019 four-star linebacker committed to the Buckeyes on April 29 and has made several trips to Ohio Stadium since. Make no mistake about it: his future is bright in Columbus.
STYLES JR. ADDS MICHIGAN OFFER
Ohio State has yet to offer in-state receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr. and that may happen soon. But as of now, the newest offer Styles Jr. has received comes from the Buckeyes' rival.
Michigan sent an offer to the Pickerington Central wideout Wednesday, adding a fifth to his list according to 247Sports, alongside Notre Dame, Boston College, Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt.
So blessed to say I received an offer from the University of Michigan. #GOBLUE pic.twitter.com/ePMMtLF2Zk
— gozogo (@LorenzoStyles3) November 27, 2018
Styles Jr., a 6-foot-1, 170-pound prospect in the class of 2021, was in Columbus Saturday and said the atmosphere was "amazing" and that his visit "went great." He also said that he had conversations with several OSU coaches including Alex Grinch and Brian Hartline.
As his high school career continues to roll on, the offers will continue to pile up. But Michigan's streak of targeting Ohio players continues with Styles Jr. It should be expected that Ohio State follows their lead in his case, and rather sooner than later.
GEIRAN HATCHETT DISCUSSES OHIO STATE VISIT
The fact that Geirean Hatchett made a trip from Ferndale, Washington to Columbus, Ohio just to experience a game at Ohio Stadium speaks volumes. And Hatchett, who made that journey this past weekend, seems content with what he found.
The four-star guard — ranked as Washington's third-best prospect in the class of 2020 as well as the nation's No. 181 overall prospect — told 247Sports that his visit was "awesome."
From 247Sports:
[Hatchett] picked the weekend Ohio State hosted Michigan and Hatchett returned from the visit raving about his time there.
"My unofficial was awesome," said Hatchett. "We came in on Thursday evening, and met with the coaches starting at noon on Friday. I met with Coach (Mark) Pantoni, Coach Stud (Greg Studrawa) and Coach (Urban) Meyer. I did a photo shoot, and then we had a tour of the facilities and a tour of campus. We went to the OSU-Cleveland State basketball game which was really cool in the old facility."
At the basketball game, played at St. John Arena, Hatchett met up with Ohio State commits Paris Johnson Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jake Wray (Marietta, Ga.).
"I have been able to develop a good friendship with them so always excited to see them in person," Hatchett said. "On Sunday we came back to campus and met up with Paris and Jake and did a photo shoot together."
Here's how that photo shoot went ...
O-H! Thank you for the great visit to THE Ohio State @OSUCoachMeyer @CoachStudOL @markpantoni @OhioStateFB #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/mHGVj5XMAk
— Geirean (@GeireanHatchett) November 26, 2018
Hatchett has 25 offers from schools across the country including many closer to home such as Stanford, Washington, California, Oregon and Oregon State. But one has to think his friendship with Johnson Jr. and Wray, as well as the success he had on this weekend's past visit, has to weigh on his mind.
But a decision probably isn't coming anytime soon.
I am going to head down to Oregon in a week and possibly stop at Oregon State if it works out," Hatchett told 247Sports. "My family lives in the area so we will visit and see Oregon, finally. I am also going to try and get to a bowl game, possibly the Rose Bowl, but will see how that all turns out after this weekend. Beyond that, I will probably wait and start visits in the spring when I can take my officials."
