Buckeye Bash Preview: A Look at the Ohio State Commits Set to Converge on Columbus for the Commit-Led Recruiting Weekend, Tristan Leigh Unable to Make Visit

By Zack Carpenter on October 23, 2020 at 2:25 pm
Jack Sawyer
Jack Sawyer
15 Comments

TreVeyon Henderson has arrived in Columbus for his first-ever trip to the city, and he will soon be joined by a number of his future teammates.

The five-star running back is one of more than a dozen Ohio State commits and targets in the 2021 class who will be converging on Columbus this weekend as part of the Buckeye Bash.

A quick refresher: The Buckeye Bash is a recruiting weekend headed up by Jack Sawyer in which a number of Ohio State's 20 commits in the 2021 cycle will be taking an unofficial visit to campus. It's all on their own dime, and Ohio State's coaches are not allowed to have any contact with the recruits (in person or otherwise) once they step foot on campus.

This summer, Oklahoma and LSU each held similar player-led recruiting weekends. As we reported in August, Sawyer had been working on putting this weekend together since May, and it's finally here.

With the recruiting dead period wiping out any hopes of the players being able to get together in the Buckeyes' athletics facilities (which the players will not be allowed to step foot in this weekend), Sawyer and Co. wanted to arrange a weekend in which this tight-knit group could all still get together for a bonding experience.

That relationship building remains a top goal for the group of commits this weekend, but the No. 1 priority has become making a push for a pair of the top remaining targets in the 2021 class – five-star Virginia offensive tackle Tristan Leigh and four-star Pittsburgh safety Derrick Davis Jr.

However, Leigh, his mother and his younger brother Aidan Leigh, a 2023 offensive lineman whom the Buckeyes have extended an offer to, are unable to visit for personal reasons. The news was first reported by Lettermen Row's Jeremy Birmingham, and we confirmed that report with Leigh's mother this morning. That could prove to be an impactful blow as the Buckeyes continue to try and pull out a come-from-behind recruiting win for the older Leigh.

Leigh also confirmed that himself this afternoon:

Davis made a last-minute change of plans, choosing to visit Ohio State this weekend instead of taking a planned visit to Georgia for the Bulldogs' bye week.

Davis is not the only player who made a decision on whether or not to visit in the 11th hour. Five-star quarterback commit Kyle McCord of St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia) confirmed with Eleven Warriors that he will be making the visit this weekend after all, as the Hawks' game scheduled for Saturday has been canceled. That could prove to be a fairly important factor this weekend in the Buckeyes' final push for Davis before his Nov. 7 commitment date, as McCord is the player Davis is the closest with among Ohio State's 2021 commits.

We have also been told receiver commit Marvin Harrison Jr., McCord's teammate at St. Joseph's, is unlikely to visit this weekend.

Also, Nashville defensive back Andre Turrentine will no longer be able to make the trip as previously planned, though Turrentine and his family are hopeful to make a trip to Columbus in December for the Michigan game. Denzel Burke is another who is expected to visit, as was reported by Birmingham, though we do not have our own confirmation on the Arizona defensive back.

Mike Hall will not be attending, as Streetsboro's playoff game against Dover was pushed back from Friday to Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Here is a list of the players – each of whom is in the 2021 class unless otherwise indicated – who are slated to make the visit this weekend:

Commits

Targets

15 Comments

Ohio State vs. Northwestern to Kick Off at Noon on Big Ten Network

Brutus at Ryan Field

Ohio State Moves Up To No. 3 In AP, Coaches Polls After Top-Five Win Over Penn State

Will Howard and Emeka Egbuka
View 15 Comments