The Hurry-Up: Buckeyes Extend Offer to Nation's No. 1 Tight End Donovan Green, Zach Rice Impressed by Greg Studrawa's Outlook on Football

By Zack Carpenter on May 3, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Donovan Green
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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 offer top-ranked tight end

Donovan Green, the No. 1-ranked sophomore tight end in the country out of Dickinson (Texas) High School, is someone we have discussed in previous Hurry-Ups as a key player to keep an eye on. We assumed it wouldn’t be long before Green was offered by Ohio State, and he finally got that offer, which he now has pinned to his Twitter account, from Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson on Friday afternoon. 

“I was on Zoom with Coach Day and Coach Wilson and my dad, and it feels great,” Green told Eleven Warriors of earning the offer. “I knew I would get an offer, but it still feels good to receive it. Coach Day offered me.

“I've been talking to Coach Wilson for about three weeks now, getting a feel for him and the coaching staff as he's been trying to see what kind of player I am.”

Day and Wilson’s pitch to the 6-foot-4, 210-pound, incredibly athletic Green has been centered around “Ohio State’s culture and history with draft selections and about (them) liking athletic tight ends in their offense.”

“They've told me I'm the No. 1 tight end in the country, and they will be recruiting me hard,” Green said. “The offer stands out a lot. They took time to get to know me as a player, and they have a history as one of the top programs in the nation.”

Green, rated as a top-115 player nationally and top 20 in the state of Texas, says he is planning on making an unofficial visit to Columbus in the summer once the recruiting shutdown is over.

Rice likes what he hears from Buckeyes

Now that Ohio State has three players in the fold in the 2022 cycle, Jyaire Brown, Tegra Tshabola and C.J. Hicks can now begin focusing on players to bring into the class with them, which includes a pair of recently offered big guys that could become the second offensive lineman in the class.

One such player is Virginia offensive tackle Zach Rice, who we introduced in Thursday night’s Hurry-Up and who we wanted to expand on a bit more here.

Rice was offered on Wednesday, as he and Greg Studrawa had a productive first discussion over the phone. He had already been attracted to Ohio State’s program, and the conversation did nothing but increase his interest. 

“The success, the rich history and the offensive linemen who have come out of there,” Rice told us when asked what stands out about the program. “And it’s just a really different atmosphere, and I truly want to be with the best. The No. 1 running back in the nation, (TreVeyon Henderson), is going there, and I just feel like (Studrawa) wasn’t trying to pump my head up like, ‘Oh, you’re so good.’ He was honest, like, ‘We don’t offer that many people, but then again you have to work for everything you have.’

“He said, ‘Obviously you’re good, and obviously you’re gonna get more offers.’ But Ohio State is honestly just different. He was just telling me that it’s not all about football, and some people believe that. He wants to build a relationship, and it’s more than just football.”

That’s where the conversation turned for Rice.

“This is what stood out to me – he said, ‘There’s only one bad thing about football,’” Rice said. “I was really confused when he said that, but he said injuries are the only bad thing about football. He was talking about (Ryan) Shazier and how they had a Zoom meeting or something, and he was saying something like I may never play football again, but I have my business. I can go into any business I want, and he’s saying that he’s getting a bunch of offers to do business.”

Rice said the Real Life Wednesdays program is not something that has been detailed to him yet.

Building a relationship 

Rice’s relationship with the Ohio State staff began about two weeks ago, when offensive line assistant Kennedy Cook first reached out to him, and eventually that led to Rice getting on the phone with Greg Studrawa in the middle of the week. 

“We got on the phone (Wednesday). Real nice dude. We got to talking about their draft, and I really like their school and stuff,” Rice said. “He said he saw physicality in me and basically that I can move well for a big dude, and I have really good technique. They like my footwork and that I finish people. He can tell that I’m a good person, and it’s just a different offer, you feel me?

“A lot of schools offer a lot of people. He told me that they have only offered three offensive tackles in my class, where some schools have already offered like 10. I feel like it’s something different. You have to really be something special to get offered by that school.”

As a bit of an aside, the fact that Studrawa told Rice that they had only offered three offensive tackles to that point gives us a little bit of insight into how the program views Earnest Greene, Kam Dewberry and Jaylen Early – all three are players listed at offensive tackle whom Ohio State has offered, but it sounds like each may have the frame that the Buckeyes like as guards. The other players listed at offensive tackle who held Ohio State offers prior to Rice were commit Tshabola, Blake Miller and Julian Armella. Cameron Williams, Early's high school teammate, and Joey Tanona added Buckeye offers after Rice.

Rice, ranked 30th nationally at offensive tackle and 13th overall in Virginia, is the second-lowest-ranked offensive lineman the Buckeyes have offered in the 2022 class. Thus far, he is one of two offensive tackles they have offered who does not yet have a national overall ranking from 247Sports, and he is carrying that as a motivational chip on his shoulder.

“I didn’t take it as disrespectful, but I took it as disgusting with myself – like motivation; like, I need to turn up,” Rice said. “I’ve definitely been working, but it’s OK. Somebody’s always working harder, and if you don’t keep working, somebody’s gonna take your spot. You’re not taking my spot.”

As for the next step, Rice says he is “absolutely” going to visit Ohio State whenever he gets a chance. 

“I don’t have a specific date in my mind, but sometime this summer I’m absolutely gonna get down there,” Rice said.

After that, Rice will be preparing further for the 2020 regular season in Virginia, as the Liberty Christian Academy standout – who says that Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Miami are the other college programs building the strongest relationships with him – says that down the road, he could square off against Henderson’s reigning state champion Hopewell High School, most likely in the playoffs.

“If everything goes right with our games this season, we’re gonna play them,” Rice said. “It’s like, OK, I’m playing against the best and gonna see how good he is. I’m gonna be playing against him right now, (but) how crazy would it be if I’m blocking for him one day?”

Other names to keep an eye on

As we’ve written about a few times, including last week, Oregon receiver Darrius Clemons is another key name to monitor moving forward. 

Clemons is a top-150 overall player in the 2022 class, and he is the top-ranked sophomore in Oregon. He does not yet have an Ohio State offer, but he is another whom we believe could see an offer at some point soon. If he does get an offer, he is a player who we like to end up in the Buckeyes’ 2022 haul.

Other players who do not yet have offers who are worth watching include Wisconsin safety Braelon Allen, Westerville South (Ohio) slot receiver Kaden Saunders and Archbishop Alter (Ohio) defensive tackle Derrick Shepard. 

We touched on Allen a few weeks ago, and he is a good candidate for increased traction in a recruitment to Ohio State. Saunders is interested in Ohio State, though it is to be determined if that interest will remain there if the Buckeyes want him as a defensive back rather than a slot receiver.

Shepard, a teammate of Hicks at Alter, has been communicating with Larry Johnson a bit more of late, but the Buckeyes may not offer him until he gets to a camp or shows improvement during his junior season.

Narrowed list for Malone

One of the prospects at the top of Ohio State's wish list in the 2021 class, New Jersey nose tackle Tywone Malone, put out a list of his 14 top schools on Saturday.

Yes, it's a top-14 list, but the Bergen Catholic star – a top 60 overall player, top-five defensive tackle and No. 1-ranked player in the Garden State – is not someone we hear from often, so now we know have a better picture of the main programs the Buckeyes are up against in his recruitment.

Donovan Green photo courtesy of Brian Perroni/247Sports

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