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.
McCullough releases top 10
Dasan McCullough is one of Ohio State’s top targets at outside linebacker in the 2022 class, and he’s an athlete we touched on Wednesday morning as one of the key players being impacted by Ryan Day’s hands-on approach to recruiting.
McCullough, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound junior at Blue Valley North (Kan.) High School, is ranked inside the top 80 overall in the 2022 class, in addition to being the No. 8-ranked athlete and top-ranked junior in Kansas. On Wednesday afternoon, McCullough – who holds 40 offers, including his most recent offer from Clemson – provided a public update of where his recruitment stands by releasing a top-10 list.
TOP 10 pic.twitter.com/Wfq833u6tn
— Dasan Mccullough (@Dasan2022) June 10, 2020
That list includes Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, Texas and Florida. Eleven Warriors checked in with McCullough to get some details about that top 10 list, which was released because he is hopeful to end his recruitment sooner rather than later.
“My top 10 is full of schools that have been recruiting me for a long time – building a relationship and have a great scheme planned for me,” McCullough said. “I’ve shortened my list earlier for the simple fact of a decision is being planned to happen earlier. I feel strong about every school on that list, and those 10 schools are now my focus.”
Where McCullough fits onto the defensive side of the field depends on what college you ask.
Michigan sees the long and rangy defender transforming into a big-bodied safety. Texas wants McCullough to be a hybrid linebacker/safety. Ohio State, however, has been adamant about recruiting McCullough as a Sam linebacker all along, and that is where his future most likely lies if he winds up with the Buckeyes.
“(Al Washington) sees some comparisons in Malik Harrison, but I’m gonna be bigger than him size- and height-wise,” McCullough said. “But he wasn’t pinning me to anyone specifically, which is why he thinks I'm gonna be even more special because I’m about 6-5 right now. I don’t think they have any 6-5 outside linebackers currently. Probably when I get to college, I’ll be about 6-5.5 once I’m done growing, and then I’ll be around 230 or 225 (pounds).”
In addition to Harrison, McCullough says that one of the comparisons many have made with him has been to another player from Olathe, Kansas.
“The only real comparison, for me, is Isaiah Simmons, honestly,” McCullough said of Simmons, who was the No. 3-ranked player in the state of Kansas in his recruiting class. “That’s the only one that people can see right now, just from a development standpoint it’s kind of the same build as Isaiah Simmons is.”
Brown makes transfer official, now ranked No. 3 in Ohio
Ever since May 22, when he announced he was planning on transferring out of Warren Easton High School in Louisiana, the speculation about where Ohio State 2022 cornerback commit Jyaire Brown would end up came down to two options – come home to Ohio, or head to IMG Academy in Florida to team up with future Buckeye Tunmise Adeleye and other top targets like Kaytron Allen.
Brown, who was born in the Queen City and lived there until he was four years old, is not only coming home but uniting with a fellow junior Buckeye commit, offensive tackle Tegra Tshabola.
After moving back to Ohio recently, Brown announced Tuesday that he is transferring to Lakota West High School.
#godsent pic.twitter.com/k8eQ2ORKfa
— Jyaire Hollywood Brown (@jyairebrown13) June 9, 2020
The Buckeyes now have three of the top-four-ranked juniors in Ohio committed in the 2022 class, as Brown is now ranked No. 3 in the state, joining Tshabola (No. 2) and C.J. Hicks (No. 4) in the top five. We still strongly expect Gabe Powers (No. 1) to eventually join the class down the road as a defensive end – though he is listed as a linebacker.
Brown and Tshabola – who last week announced a plan to hold workouts together for youth football players in the West Chester area – will look to lead the Firebirds to a second consecutive playoff berth following a 7-4 record last season. Their season opener will be Aug. 28 against Cincinnati La Salle and 2021 Ohio State commits Jaylen Johnson and Devonta Smith.
Saunders releases top 7
As mentioned, the Buckeyes have three commits who are ranked in the top five of the state’s 2022 player rankings and have another likely to join at some point. The No. 5 player in the state, however – Westerville South athlete Kaden Saunders – has yet to receive an offer from Ohio State.
Saunders, the No. 16-ranked athlete and No. 166-ranked overall player in the country, released a top seven on Tuesday featuring Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Arizona State, TCU, Indiana and West Virginia.
— (@KSaunders03) June 9, 2020
Saunders is a 5-foot-10, 170-pound slot receiver and cornerback at Westerville South. He prefers the offensive side of the ball, but the Buckeyes like him more at cornerback. It’s unlikely, but still unclear, if they would be willing to take him as a receiver in the class.
Dasan McCullough photo courtesy of Ryan Wallace/247Sports
