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.
Zak Zinter Preparing for Long March
Ohio State has gone to great lengths to maintain its connection with four-star Massachusetts offensive tackle Zak Zinter after Urban Meyer’s departure.
Meyer, who was the coach to call Zinter and extend an Ohio State offer in mid-September, kept in fairly close contact with Zinter throughout the football season, but when Meyer retired, new head coach Ryan Day and his staff jumped on to let Zinter know the Buckeyes still want him involved with their program. Five coaches, including offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, special teams coordinator and assistant secondary coach Matt Barnes and Day, joined in the effort.
Now, Zinter is in consistent contact with every coach multiples times per week, he said, and is ready to bring his original excitement to Columbus for a visit March 27.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what OSU football and the college program is all about,” Zinter said. “And to see the feel of campus, the coaches and the brotherhood of the guys.”
That week will be a busy one for Zinter, as the 6-foot-6, 300-pound lineman is taking visits to Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Boston College and Ohio State during his spring break. It will prove to be a formative week for the 2020 recruit who wants to be committed by his next football season. He made visits to Virginia and Duke during the first weekend of March too.
Zinter said he’s heard positive feedback from Day and director of player personnel Mark Pantoni regarding his film, and Barnes made multiple visits to Massachusetts in January.
The North Andover native has played every position along the line for Buckingham Browne and Nichols and believes that versatility is something that sets him apart from other offensive linemen of his caliber in the 2020 class.
The No. 22 offensive tackle is one of 21 tackles Ohio State has extended offers toward in the 2020 class. The Buckeyes already have two commitments in No. 1 tackle Paris Johnson, Jr. and three-star Jakob James, and four-star No. 17 offensive tackle Anton Harrison included Ohio State in his top-six Monday.
The Buckeyes could use some depth at the position, though, as four of their five starting offensive linemen graduated or left for the NFL after the 2018 season.
Rounding Out the Weekend
Ryan Watts, the three-star Texas cornerback who was discussed in yesterday’s Hurry Up, made his way to Oklahoma State on Monday after The Opening Regional in Dallas on Sunday.
Oklahoma State University ..... #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/tJFDhJBn7K
— Ryan Watts (@RyanwattsIII) March 5, 2019
Georgia 2021 tight end Cane Berrong, who received an Ohio State offer in mid-February and is expected to be one of the top tight ends in his class, attend an unofficial visit at Clemson on Monday as well. Berrong is up to 13 offers already as a sophomore in high school.
Three-star offensive tackle Marlon Martinez out of St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) High School announced his 27th offer Tuesday morning on Twitter. His latest offer comes from North Carolina State.
