The Hurry Up: Ohio State Makes the Cut for Two 2020 Prospects, Several Florida Targets Show out at The Opening

By Taylor Lehman on February 17, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Julian Fleming
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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 Make the Cut

The nations No. 1 2020 wide receiver narrowed down his list Saturday, as Pennsylvania's Julian Fleming dropped his final offers list form 10 to six, including Ohio State, via his Twitter account.

The five-star wideout also included Penn State, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Oregon.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound pass-catcher has a strong relationship with Penn State, where many believe he will go, but he also has a strong relationship with Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, which is believed to be the reason why the Buckeyes are still a relevant contender for the Catawissa prospect. 

RELATEDJulian Fleming Announces Final Six Schools, Ohio State Included

Another significant recruit cut down his offers list this weekend too, as 2020's No. 4 cornerback, Henry Gray out of Florida, dropped his list to eight schools, also including Ohio State. 

The programs joining the Buckeyes on the list are Auburn, Penn State, Clemson, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee.

The 5-foot-11 corner is the nation's No. 51 recruit and had been giving Clemson the edge on other schools among his 26 offers. This one could come down to the Buckeyes and Tigers. Interestingly enough, the one-time Hurricane pledge no longer has the local program among his top schools.

Rounding Out the Week's Offers

February has been a very fruitful month for 2020 three-star cornerback Ryan Watts to this point. In 17 days, he's garnered 10 offers, including the latest one coming from Ohio State on Friday night. 

The No. 28 cornerback in the class has offers from Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and others with no clear front-runner yet. While Watts is the lowest-rated cornerback offer in the class for OSU, the Buckeyes have been bolstering that position in the latter half of the week, including an offer to four-star Texas cornerback Lorando Johnson.

Top OSU Targets Visit Schools

Ohio State five-star 2020 offensive tackle commit Paris Johnson, Jr. and two fellow Cincinnati prospects — four-star defensive end Darrion Henry and four-star linebacker Jaheim Thomas — all traveled to East Lansing together Sunday to visit Michigan State and watch the Spartans' basketball game.

Johnson is committed to Ohio State, and Henry is leaning toward the Buckeyes as well, so a visit to East Lansing would need to be pretty spectacular for either of the two to adjust their sights now. Of the three, Thomas is the one most interested in the Spartans, but both of his 247Sports crystal ball projections send him to Columbus. He has not yet received an OSU offer, but it's only a matter of time, as new linebackers coach Al Washington recruited him while at Michigan.

Five-star Washington D.C. wideout Rakim Jarrett also paid a visit to another school this weekend. He and Maryland five-star defensive end Bryan Bresee visited Georgia over the weekend. Both are top Ohio State recruits in the 2020 class.

Bresee has the most interest in Georgia between the two prospects, as he narrowed his offers down to six schools in November — Ohio State and Georgia being two of them. Jarrett is showing most of his interest in the direction of Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Florida, though one 247Sports crystal ball has him choosing Maryland.

Jarrett is a receiver the Bucks have to get, as the 6-foot pass-catcher would add plenty of athleticism to a position that is Ohio State's second-most in need, behind the offensive line.

Bresee, the No. 2 prospect in the nation, has shown favor toward all of his top six schools, with no true front-runner at the moment. Every visit counts for the 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman.

The Opening Opens Eyes

Several Ohio State 2020 targets were invited to perform at The Opening Regional in Miami on Sunday. Most markedly, former Ohio State four-star cornerback commit Lejond Cavazos out of IMG Academy.

The 6-foot, 186-pound speedster who decommitted from the Buckeyes at the beginning of December blazed a 4.40 40-yard dash Sunday, according to The Athletic's Ari Wasserman.

Cavazos is still a candidate to stick with Ohio State after his decommitment, but his recruiting process is still wide open. His 40-yard dash was no surprise to anyone who's seen the corner play before, though.

Cavazos then went on to win the combine challenge, The Opening announced via Twitter.

Henry Gray was also at The Opening the day after narrowing his list to six teams, and five-star No. 1 Florida recruit Marcus Rosemy participated as well. St. Thomas Aquinas High School also announced today that Rosemy, one of Ohio State's top targets at the receiver position for 2020, set a new record for the school.

Four-star linebacker Devon Betty, four-star offensive tackle Marcus Dumervil and four-star Penn State linebacker commit Derek Wingo all have Ohio State offers and were at The Opening in Miami as well.

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