The Hurry-Up: LSU Commit Bryce Anderson’s Recruitment “100 Percent Open,” Buckeyes Offer Michigan Legacy Will Johnson, Jahvaree Ritzie Releases Top Five

By Zack Carpenter on April 26, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Bryce Anderson
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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.

Anderson's recruitment open

Ohio State and LSU are two of the three core programs (Florida the other) fighting for the term “DBU,” and it looks like they will continue fighting against each other on the recruiting trail for some of the best talent residing in the South.

Last week, Kerry Coombs snagged a sophomore star out of Louisiana (cornerback Jyaire Brown) who the Tigers were very much in on and will be until he signs. On Friday night, we detailed another one of the Bayou players in the 2022 class whom Coombs and the Buckeyes are targeting (safety Jacoby Mathews) despite having not yet offered him to this point. 

On Friday night, shortly after we gave a rundown of Mathews’ recruitment, Coombs was back at it, dishing out an offer to LSU safety commit Bryce Anderson.

Anderson is a sophomore at West Brook High School in Beaumont, Texas who is ranked as the No. 4 safety in America’s 2022 class, in addition to being rated No. 92 overall and No. 14 overall in Texas. 

Though he has been committed to LSU since September, Anderson is enthusiastic about having been offered by the Buckeyes over the weekend. It’s an offer that made an impression on the young man, and he says he is taking the offer seriously, as the interest between him and Ohio State is mutual.

“Coach Coombs offered me, and I was very excited to receive such a prestigious offer,” Anderson told Eleven Warriors. “I'm 100 percent open in my recruitment, and I'm interested in Ohio State.”

Anderson says he was watching throughout the NFL Draft, taking note that LSU led the country with 14 total draft picks and that Ohio State tied for second with 10 draft picks. Both programs are now under consideration for Anderson, who holds nearly two dozen offers, including from Alabama, Baylor, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas and the other DBU nominee, Florida. He has plenty of options for where he wants to be developed into a potential pro down the line.

“I'm going to a school that's putting DBs in the league and (putting a lot in the) first round, and I'm going to whichever fits me,” Anderson said. 

The 6-foot, 185-pounder played in his first varsity action in late August for the Bruins, rushing five times for 51 yards and a touchdown and going 2-for-5 for 18 yards as a quarterback.

Two days after his varsity game, he committed to LSU as the Tigers’ first pledge in the class, eventually joined by two more sophomores by the time December hit. That four-man class is unofficially ranked No. 1 in the country right now. (Unofficially in the sense that there are no composite rankings for 2022 players yet, and the team rankings will not be official until those are released.)

Anderson is the third-highest rated player in the Tigers’ class of 2022. According to 247Sports scout Gabe Brooks, Anderson is a player who “could provide versatility thanks to athleticism, instincts and awareness. Capable in man coverage, but also terrific covering territory as a deep safety.”

Brooks also assesses that Anderson has agility and fluid movement in his breaks on receivers, and his “great top-end speed” is exemplified by a sub-11-second time in the 100-meter dash and 22.03 time in the 200 meter dash. Both of those times were registered during his freshman year at West Brook.

OSU offers Michigan legacy

It’s incredibly early in the process, but it’s starting to look like Ohio State and Michigan could be in an early recruiting battle for one of the best sophomores in America who has strong ties to the Wolverines, similar to the Buckeye vs. Wolverine recruitment of Michigan running back Donovan Edwards.

Will Johnson currently ranks as the No. 4 cornerback and No. 16 overall player in the 2022 class as a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder out of Grosse Pointe South High School in the suburbs of Detroit. (For you fellow movie nerds out there, it’s the same suburb where the John Cusack-led movie Grosse Pointe Blank was set.)

Johnson’s father, Deon Johnson, was a cornerback at Michigan from 1991-1994. Similar to how Edwards and his coach at West Bloomfield High School, former Michigan receiver Ron Bellamy, are approaching Edwards’ recruitment, Johnson says those connections will not be a major factor over the next year or two as he chooses his college program.

“My dad played at Michigan, but it doesn’t play a big factor in my recruitment because overall he’d want me to go where is best for me,” Johnson told Eleven Warriors on Friday night, shortly after Johnson announced he had been offered by Ryan Day following a Zoom conversation.

“Coach Day offered me, and I got to do a virtual visit with the staff on it and learn more about the program. I got to go through some presentations with the coaches.”

When the Buckeyes came calling, Johnson says, it left a strong impact. The Buckeyes have asserted themselves as an early player in his recruitment as they continue to build good momentum all around in the sophomore cycle. Their work in getting so many 2021 commits on board before summer allows them to get a strong head start on the 2022 class.

“When I got the offer, it was very exciting because they’re one of the best college football teams in the country, and I have a chance to play there,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely a game-changer and will play a big role in my recruitment.”

Johnson, the top-ranked sophomore in Michigan, is very familiar with the recruiting process. He got a front row seat for the recruitments of a handful of top-tier recruits – such as former Ohio State safety Damon Webb and former Michigan players Shane Morris and Devin Funchess – by traveling the country as a kid with the 7-on-7 team his dad helped form.

And just like Anderson, Johnson is also very familiar with Coombs and his track record of getting guys into the pros.

“Coach Coombs coming back is a big factor in my recruitment from Ohio State because he has a record of putting out DBs in the NFL and DBs like me,” Johnson said.

According to 247Sports scout Allen Trieu, who compares Johnson early on to Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, the young star already has good size and still has room to grow while already looking “like a prototypical outside cornerback prospect.”

Trieu says that Johnson is a “good athlete who excels on the basketball court and has shown top-notch ball skills on the football field. Has the size and ball tracking ability to defend bigger outside receivers. Has good technique. Smooth in his backpedal and transition. Smart as far as zone coverage.”

Right now, Trieu says, Johnson projects to be a “blue-chip boundary cornerback” as long as he doesn’t add too much height and size. Be on the lookout for Johnson as a possible five-star composite player and a player who Coombs – whose ability to recruit Michigan is well-documented – will be in on throughout the entirety of the recruiting process.

Ritzie drops top five

One of the nation's fastest-rising and most athletic defensive ends, Glenn (N.C.) High School junior Jahvaree Ritzie, has included Ohio State in a top-five list that also includes North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Ritzie, a 6-foot-5, 275-pounder, is ranked No. 160 overall, No. 14 at strongside defensive end and No. 8 in North Carolina in an absolutely loaded year for the state. When 247Sports released its latest 2021 player rankings a week-and-a-half ago, Ritzie was one of the 20 biggest risers, as he shot up nearly 100 spots – from No. 223 overall to No. 127. (Which pushed his composite ranking up from No. 210 to No. 160.)

From everything we’ve been hearing, it sounds like Ohio State – despite making inroads with Ritzie ever since offering him during the January contact period – is on the outside looking in here. We believe Ritzie will end up with North Carolina, tacking onto the impressive rebuild Mack Brown is creating in Chapel Hill. 

Ohio State isn’t out of the race quite yet, though, so we will see if the Buckeyes can make one final push here.

Bryce Anderson photo courtesy of Brian Perroni/247Sports

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