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.
247Sports Releases First 2021 Ratings
247Sports released its first Top247 for the Class of 2021, and a slew of Ohio State targets were involved.
From the jump, Ohio State was a prominent figure in the newest rankings, as the Buckeyes own the highest-rated verbal commitment in five-star defensive end Jack Sawyer. The Pickerington North sophomore is rated No. 2 overall in the class.
Lots of work to be done! https://t.co/rGPd6p87Zb
— Jack Sawyer (@jacksawyer40) April 9, 2019
Other names included that have been mentioned throughout the early 2021 recruitment are Emeka Egbuka (No. 13), Quinton Somerville (No. 18), J.J. McCarthy (No. 19), Ben Christman (No. 22), Preston Stone (No. 23), Jake Garcia (No. 24), Tony Grimes (No. 27), Landon Tengwall (No. 28), Maason Smith (No. 37), Elliot Donald (No. 38), Travion Ford (No. 42), Micah Morris (No. 46) and Drake Maye (No. 50).
Ohio State also has a lot of presence with the top Ohio recruits, having good relationships with seven of the top 10 prospects in the class already.
Jack Sawyer (No. 1 in Ohio)
Ben Christman (No. 2)
Lorenzo Styles (No. 4)
Jayden Ballard (No. 5)
A.J. Kirk (No. 6)
Najee Story (No. 8)
Reid Carrico (No. 9)
The 2021 class is also heavy with quarterbacks, and Ohio State has already broken ground with most of them, including having good relationships with the following pro-style generals.
J.J. McCarthy (No. 2 pro-style QB)
Jake Garcia (No. 3)
Drake Maye (No. 5)
Kyle McCord (No. 8)
Miller Moss (No. 9)
Carlos Del Rio (No. 12)
Izayah Cummings Visits Ohio State
Louisville wideout Izayah Cummings is among the wide receiver type that Ohio State would like to add in the 2020 class – tall and long, with some bulk or room to grow. The No. 1 receiver in the class, Julian Fleming is listed at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, while Ohio State commitment Gee Scott Jr. is 6-foot-3, 211 pounds. Those are the two biggest wideouts taking serious looks at Ohio State, besides three-star Michigan receiver Devell Washington (6-foot-4, 215 pounds).
Cummings, at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, is still blooming within his recruitment out of Louisville Male High School. He has offers from Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Purdue, Missouri, Cincinnati and others, but his one big offer has eluded him to this point, as he leans toward Louisville.
He was in Columbus for a visit Friday and walked away impressed by the tradition of Ohio State.
“My expectations that I had coming to Ohio State was a high- and top-level football program,” Cummings said. “They met it off the jump. As soon as you walk in the building, you see all the success BuckeyeNation has had. It’s very impressive.”
Cummings made contact with Ohio State by visiting a camp last summer and getting in some work with former wide receivers coach Zach Smith. Since that camp, which Cummings said he believes he worked well during, he has been in contact with offensive quality control coach Keenan Bailey and director of player personnel Mark Pantoni. He met wide receivers coach Brian Hartline for the first time Friday.
“They like my size and how I can be a dangerous mismatch across the field,” Cummings said.
I had a great unofficial visit at Ohio State today!! #GoBucks @OhioStateFB @markpantoni @brianhartline @CoachKeeOSU pic.twitter.com/S175iD4xUB
— IC8 (@IzayahCummings) April 5, 2019
Though Cummings missed five games of his junior season in 2018, he still caught 41 passes for 600 yards, and his film shows good ability to high-point the ball and make catches in traffic. As far as potentially playing tight end, Cummings said only two schools, Tennessee and Syracuse, have talked to him about playing there. Other than that, the Kentucky receiver believes his skillset best suits the wideout position.
The No. 5 2020 Kentucky recruit has made visits to Notre Dame, Penn State (the day after Ohio State), Michigan and Wisconsin in addition to a few of the schools listed above and said he plans to visit schools in the South that he said he has mutual interest with.
Devell Washington Puts Buckeyes in Top-Five
Three-star wide receiver Devell Washington included Ohio State in his top-five Tuesday morning. The Bay City, Michigan, recruit also included Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia and Purdue.
Id like to thank all of the coaches that recruited me from some of the top universities in the country. Its humbling that you believed in me as a student-athlete. That said, here are my top 5 schools (no order). Recruitment is still OPEN #GodsPlan
— Devell Washington (@DevellWashingt2) April 9, 2019
Edit by: @BSB_Wolverine pic.twitter.com/l6fp1ZVgfW
Washington was one of the top performers at The Opening Regional in Massillon, Ohio, on March 31, and brings some of the most size to the position at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds. He received his Purdue offer in January 2019 and West Virginia offer in February, but his other three offers came in the summer. His Ohio State recruitment was very hot in the summer but has since leveled out, though he’s still high on the Buckeyes.
