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.
Clark Phillips Prepares For The Opening Finals With New Teammates
Four-star cornerback Clark Phillips is just over a week into his commitment to Ohio State after he announced the Friday before Ohio Sate’s Buckeye Bash & Barbecue, and now he’s part of a group of six Buckeye commits competing in The Opening Finals in Frisco, Texas.
He’s not taking it lightly either.
“I’m working on some guys that are out here at The Opening as well,” Phillips told Eleven Warriors about West Coast Ohio State targets. “I’m just the first of few that are really good but that we’re looking to get. We should have something going soon.”
The two recruits Phillips said he is really honing in on are four-star Arizona safety Lathan Ransom and four-star California linebacker Kourt Williams. Both have been said to be leaning toward Ohio State entering the national showcase.
But what Phillips represents outside of being the No. 3 cornerback in the class is secondary coach Jeff Hafley’s first West Coast commitment on the Buckeye staff. He was hired in January, and one of his greatest assets was his connections along the coast after having worked at the NFL level in San Francisco. Phillips noted that when he was making his decision too.
“He has that experience, and that’s exciting,” the cornerback said about Hafley. “Then the DB legacy at Ohio State in general. When you bring in a guy like that with that type of experience, I don’t see why we shouldn’t have three guys first round every year.”
Phillips, who stands at about 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, is a cornerback that will translate to the Big Ten well because of his physicality and intelligence at the position. He didn’t allow a touchdown as a junior at La Habra because no one would throw to his side of the field after he had seven interceptions in eight games as a sophomore.
Hafley noticed Phillips and just a couple weeks after his hiring, Ohio State extended an offer to the California corner.
“I feel like it’s my home away from home,” Phillips said. “I’ve been there twice, so it’s kind of funny to say it’s home, but it’s a home feel. I get the home vibe. I’m comfortable with the coaching staff and comfortable with the place. Regardless of which people come – people say staffs change – I feel like that’s home. Even with the players, I feel those are guys I want to grow with, guys I want to win with, guy Is want to lose with, guys I want to get better with.”
Phillips arrived at Ohio State less than 24 hours after he committed, and he said commits like Gee Scott Jr. and Lejond Cavazos have made him feel at home already.
“Yeah, that’s my dog now,” Cavazos told Eleven Warriors about Phillips after the barbecue event. “He’s cool and has a great family.”
But what might be the most impressive aspect about Phillips and Cavazos as recruits is they aren’t afraid of adding competition within the cornerbacks room. Both guys are gunning hard for LSU commit Elias Ricks, who is rated as the No. 2 cornerback in the class. He is at The Opening Finals too.
“It gets me super excited,” Phillips said about adding more talent at the position. “When we have guys that compete, I think we’re going to be the best. Bringing in the best guys is only going to make us better and going to make the team better, and we’re going to be able to dominate.”
Ryan Linthicum Releases Top-Eight
The No. 1 center in the country Ryan Linthicum announced his top eight schools Saturday, and Ohio State was one of them. He also included Michigan, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, LSU, Virginia Tech and Maryland.
TOP 8 Recruitment still 100% Open pic.twitter.com/Won3OwQYep
— Ryan linthicum (@RyanLinthicum2) June 30, 2019
Linthicum told Eleven Warriors that Ohio State was one of his top schools after he made a visit to Columbus in May, and it appears the Buckeyes are doing well within his recruitment otherwise too.
Since defensive line coach Larry Johnson recruits well in the Maryland area, he is the primary recruiter for Linthicum, but the center was also able to meet offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and head coach Ryan Day while he was in town in mid-May.
Linthicum is best known for how good he is at center, but he’s also known for being teammates and good friends with top 2020 defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, who committed to Clemson. At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if Clemson was a good leader within that top-eight. But Ohio State is there too.
