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.
Harrison is All-American No. 11
So, I guess we're at the point in the year where we're going to hear about another Ohio State commit accepting an invitation to play in the All-American Bowl every other day.
Just one day after Virginia defensive tackle Tyleik Williams announced he would be playing in the bowl, St. Joseph's Prep (Pa.) receiver commit Marvin Harrison Jr. announced on Monday that he will be joining Williams and at least nine other future Buckeyes in the San Antonio festivities in January.
O-H-I-O STATE fans are familiar with this guy.
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) September 22, 2020
WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (@MarvHarrisonJr) has committed to the 2021 All-American Bowl @NBCSports #AAB21 #AllAmericanBowl pic.twitter.com/d7RiQMXqhD
Williams became Buckeye commitment No. 10 in the 2021 cycle to accept an invitation to play in the All-American Bowl, helping the group surpass the 2020 group's total of nine commitments – a trend that was pretty easy to see coming during the spring and summer.
Harrison only tacks onto that total, and it will be a perfect opportunity for the 6-foot-5, 203-pounder to prove that the talent evaluators who put together the 247Sports Composite rankings are wrong.
Harrison had been ranked in the top 60 overall from the initial rankings in August 2018 all the way until he dropped to No. 89 this past June, and that drop continued on Tuesday, as he now sits ranked No. 115 overall. That actually makes him Ohio State's lowest-ranked receiver commit of the six-man group in the combined 2020 and 2021 cycles:
2020
- Julian Fleming – No. 3
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba – No. 29 (who is already wowing the folks at Ohio State and became the first freshman receiver to lose his black stripe.)
- Gee Scott Jr. – No. 66
- Mookie Cooper – No. 93
2021
- Jayden Ballard – No. 49
- Harrison – No. 115
Assuming the All-American Bowl and its week of practice and drills leading up to it (really the most important aspect of the entire week) are held as planned, that will give Harrison the chance to showcase his physical growth and his skills against the best defensive backs and linebackers in the country in his class.
McCord and Co. Continue Push to Play This Fall
One reason Harrison has not been able to climb the rankings is because St. Joseph's Prep has still not played a game this fall, as the Philadelphia Catholic League pushed football back to the spring.
However, it appears St. Joseph's push to play as an independent – which we spoke about with Buckeye quarterback commit and Harrison's teammate Kyle McCord earlier this month – is continuing to be made.
Open Date: Were seeking a varsity football game on October 2/3, 2020. If interested, please contact Head Coach Tim Roken troken@sjprep.org
— St Joes Prep Football (@SJPrep_Football) September 21, 2020
If playing as an independent falls through, it looks like McCord and Harrison will at least get one more opportunity to play for their high school head coach.
On Monday, Tim Roken was announced as the head coach of the East team at the All-American Bowl.
Honored to represent @SJPREP along with a few others come January in San Antonio! Extremely grateful for this once in a lifetime experience to lead some of the countries best! @SJPrep_Football @AABonNBC https://t.co/9839Xn7K2l
— Tim Roken (@T_Roken) September 21, 2020
“The All-American Bowl has established a great tradition that I have been blessed to be a part of in different roles in the past,” Roken said. “I am honored to now be selected to represent our school and community as the head coach in this great game.”
Gosnell still hopes to visit
Nothing gets Ohio State fans jazzed up like talking some tight end recruiting, right?!
Well, since it's always exciting, I just wanted to give a quick update on East Surry (N.C.) four-star tight end Benji Gosnell, who is Ohio State's top tight end priority to join three-star commit Bennett Christian in the 2022 class.
Just like Christian did in August, Gosnell was hoping to visit Ohio State's campus with his family on his own dime in order to get a feel for the school. However, Gosnell told me that it's unlikely they will be able to get to Columbus before the end of September.
Gosnell is still attempting to make the trip sometime in October or perhaps November before he makes a decision between his final three schools of Ohio State, Florida and North Carolina, where his brother is a receiver for the Tar Heels.
