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.
Allen felt unprioritized at Michigan, hopes to earn OSU offer
Clayton Northmont (Ohio) three-star receiver Markus Allen was offered by Michigan during the first week of February, and that soon flipped to Crystal Ball predictions in the last week of March for the Wolverines to land Ohio’s No. 14 player in the 2021 class.
Those came to fruition on April 28 when Allen committed to Jim Harbaugh’s program. However, sometime between that late Tuesday in April and an early-September Wednesday (aka yesterday), there had been a growing disconnect between Allen and the Wolverine coaching staff. A little past 12:30 p.m. yesterday, Allen announced his decommitment from Michigan, thanking Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis for the opportunity.
On Thursday morning, Allen shared some of his thoughts with Eleven Warriors about why he decommitted from Michigan, with his feeling of being unprioritized at the forefront of his decision.
“After having a talk about incidents that I felt weren’t right at UM, my family and I wanted to sit down and have a conversation about the future,” Allen told us. “I just feel like I wasn’t wanted or loved, honestly. ‘Cause you wanna go somewhere you’re wanted and not just be ‘a guy’ you wanna be ‘their guy,’ you know, and I didn’t feel that with them.”
Now, with the Wolverines in the past, the country’s No. 455 overall player and No. 68 receiver turns his attention to the future and the other 29 offers in his playbook – and one big-time offer that he hasn’t gotten yet but that he hopes is on the horizon from a program that has never stopped keeping tabs on him.
“Me and Coach (Brian) Hartline have had a relationship since the beginning of the recruitment,” the 6-foot-2, 190-pound receiver said. “He and I have been texting this whole recruitment time. Before I even committed, we texted and our bond is good. He’s a great guy and great coach, and I’m comfortable with him and still building upon that.
“Coach Hartline likes my route running, my hips, how I can break down for a big body receiver and strong hands; that I can be a playmaker.”
Allen says he and Hartline “have been talking every day” as their relationship is continuing to strengthen.
An offer from Ohio State may or may not come, but without the ability to earn one during the canceled 2020 summer camp circuit (and with no upcoming camps to prove himself at), Allen will have to earn that offer over the next few weeks in game settings.
But Allen isn’t focused on earning scholarship offers. He’s focused on helping his team get to 3-0 tomorrow night against Beavercreek.
If an offer from the Buckeyes does eventually come, there are two points to keep in mind:
- It doesn’t affect their recruitment of Emeka Egbuka. The five-star Steilacoom (Wash.) receiver is still their top target at the position in 2021, and as I said this week, it’s still Ohio State-Oklahoma-Washington running 1-2-3 in that recruitment. And I’m still confident the Buckeyes land him.
- Allen’s recruitment could basically be considered over at that point, as Allen would be unlikely to pass up the opportunity to be at the same program as his good friend C.J. Hicks.
“I’m not in C.J.’s class, but it would be special to join Buckeye family and know I can play with my little brother C.J.,” Allen said. “That would be very special.”
see u soon. https://t.co/RHTbn8w8ed
— Dasan Mccullough (@Dasan2022) September 10, 2020
But Allen still has plenty left to prove before that could happen, and he knows it.
“I mean (an Ohio State offer) can come whenever, but I will make sure on my part I just continue to play football like I have been and let things fall in place,” Allen said.
Brown a potential 2022 QB offer
The recruiting dead period – the one on the verge of being pushed to eight months once the NCAA Division I Council extends it when it meets next Wednesday – has created evaluation problems for programs all over the country.
The most affected position, at least for Ohio State, has been quarterback. It’s the only position the Buckeyes have not added a new offer to in their 2022 class since the dead period was enacted. (Gunner Stockton’s recruiting profile says he was offered on April 4, but the offer came weeks before that.)
With Ryan Day and Corey Dennis unable to see quarterbacks throw in person for an up-close evaluation, it’s become apparent they haven’t been comfortable extending any new offers to signal callers. For one of the nation’s best at the position, Jacurri Brown, it has been a curveball.
But Brown – a four-star prospect out of Lowndes (Ga.) High School who is ranked No. 122 overall, No. 4 at dual-threat quarterback and No. 14 in Georgia’s 2022 cycle – is hoping his junior season can still be an impactful one to show coaches what he can do.
“It’s different for QBs because not every QB fits what the offense wants to do or just the fact of only one QB plays, realistically,” Brown told Eleven Warriors when asked how COVID has changed college coaches’ recruitment of him. “You go for the best fit, but now that COVID’s around there, I (don’t get) as much face-fo-face contact. So I’ll have to let my game film speak for me.”
As we sit here on Sept. 9, there’s little doubt that California five-star Maalik Murphy (who is hoping to make a visit to Ohio State soon that could really open the door there) is the Buckeyes’ top 2022 quarterback target – especially with fellow five-stars Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Stockton (South Carolina) committed elsewhere. But the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Brown is a player Ohio State is keeping tabs on for a potential offer down the road.
Brown says he talks with Buckeye coaches “about every other day,” as he tries to build toward Ohio State becoming the next program to add to an offer sheet that includes Florida, Auburn, Miami and Tennessee, and he was offered by Georgia on Wednesday night.
“I would like to say (they’re heavily recruiting me). I talk to multiple people on the coaching staff,” Brown said. “Both those relationships (with Day and Dennis) are in the early stages, but I’ve hit it off with Coach (Tim) Hinton and Coach Kee (Keenan Bailey). Those are my guys.”
Brown says Hinton and Bailey have not specifically stated what it will take for him to earn an offer, instead that they’re “just encouraging me to get better” as they still await a chance to see in throw in person before possibly extending an offer.
“I hope (an offer is close), but I try to stay focused on my craft and mechanics,” Brown said. “If I get consistent with those, everything should fall in place.”
Header photo: Markus Allen – 247Sports
