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.
Alston and family, Alford have built great relationship
In the first 24 hours after Georgia prospect Damari Alston was extended an offer from Tony Alford, the Buckeyes’ running backs coach was instantly making a real-life impact on both Alston and his parents.
The offer came on August 11, the same day the Big Ten announced it was canceling the fall football season and pushing it back to the spring, but Alford still had his eyes on recruiting the four-star Woodward Academy standout. The next day, Alford got on the phone with Alston and eventually had him hand the phone over to his parents. That conversation went really well, and it sparked things to where we stand now in his recruitment.
“The day after he offered me, he got to know my parents,” Alston told Eleven Warriors last week. “We got on the phone, and he got me to give them the phone. They loved talking to him. They think he’s a great guy, and he’s someone who has my best interests in mind.”
That offer was actually about five months in the making, Alston says, as Alford told him he had been doing background research, scouting and getting to know Alston’s game and his character from coaches before finally pulling the trigger on it.
And now, after about three months of true relationship building and genuine trust being cultivated between the two, Alston says Ohio State has emerged with Florida as one of his top-two schools because of his closeness with Alford.
“Coach Alford’s approach is different from any other coach I’ve talked to,” Alston said. “I would say he’s the coach, out of anyone else, that I’m closest with. He just keeps it so real. I’ll be honest, a lot of other schools tell me the same thing, and it gets old. His approach is real. He doesn’t fill my head up with anything. He just tells me exactly what he sees in me as a running back.”
And what exactly does he see in Alston? Some of the same stuff that Alford saw in a Georgia Tech freshman who is having a standout season and who Alford recruited in the 2020 class.
“He compares me to Jahmyr Gibbs,” Alston said. “That’s what a lot of people I talk to, reporters and other people, have compared me to. Coach Alford said I’m like him only Jahmyr is probably a little faster.”
Mid-Season Highlights... (5 Games) https://t.co/P027IiwPMx pic.twitter.com/FDyQ05FtWj
— DA (@DamariAlston) October 13, 2020
Even if he’s not quite as fast as the incredibly explosive Gibbs, Alston possesses high-level quickness, burst and speed. Alston, at 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, is built strong and sturdy and has some thickness to him. Playing against good competition in Georgia, Alston has developed high-end change of direction and shiftiness with the ability to outrace other people on the perimeter, and he’s physical between the tackles.
Add in his exceptional character and there’s more than one reason that Alston has emerged as a top-two running back target in the 2022 class along with Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Singleton – who we talked about on Friday as the Buckeyes are also recruiting him hard. (Though those are the top-two names, it needs to be noted that the list of running back targets does not end there, as Kaytron Allen and Dallan Hayden are two more the Buckeyes are looking at, in addition to Dillon Tatum, though I believe he is still being targeted as a slot cornerback.)
For what it’s worth, and it’s probably worth a lot, Alford is also being honest with Alston that he’s recruiting Singleton hard as well. Again, it comes back to the honest approach that Alford takes – one that he has grown a reputation for on the recruiting trail.
“The day he offered me, he said, ‘I wouldn’t let you commit today,’” Alston said. “I asked him why, and he said, ‘Because you haven’t seen the school.’ I’m the same way, anyway. I wouldn’t wanna commit before I see the school.”
Alston believes he “absolutely feels like a priority,” and Ohio State has shown that in the fact that Alston says Ryan Day texts him just about every morning, or at least every other day. Area recruiter Al Washington is also involved, and Buckeye fans should feel confident about the linebacker coach’s inclusion in Alston’s recruitment.
However, Alston is still keeping an open mind with Alabama, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, North Carolina and Oregon among the other programs recruiting him.
Alston is adamant that a commitment, to Ohio State or anywhere, is not around the corner. When it comes to the Buckeyes, he says he still wants to make a visit before coming to any conclusions. Though that’s a bit difficult with his parents’ work schedule, he is hoping to make that visit at some point in the near future.
You tell me ... https://t.co/Futw7ZkDhI
— DA (@DamariAlston) October 29, 2020
For a while, it looked like the Buckeyes might look to land two running backs in the 2022 class. That appears to have changed, with the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility rule being a possible reason why, as there’s a chance Ohio State will still have all of Master Teague, Marcus Crowley, Steele Chambers, Miyan Williams, TreVeyon Henderson and Evan Pryor as scholarship running backs in 2022.
However, the high number of potential running backs on the roster, whether it’s six or seven, would not deter Alston from choosing the Buckeyes, he says.
“If I go there, I’m not going there to be the sixth or seventh running back,” Alston said.
Gosnell decision coming Wednesday
Ohio State’s top tight end priority in the 2022 class, North Carolina four-star Benji Gosnell, has made his college decision and will be announcing his intentions at 8 p.m. Wednesday via Instagram Live, he announced on Sunday morning.
Committing Wednesday @ 8PM on Instagram Live. Tune in @benjigosnell6
— Benjamin Gosnell (@GosnellBenjamin) November 1, 2020
Gosnell, the No. 265 overall player and No. 11 tight end in the country, is down to a final three of Ohio State, Florida and North Carolina.
I believe the timing of this announcement and decision is interesting and think it spells good things for the Buckeyes. Just two weeks ago, we told you about how important it was for Gosnell to see whether or not Ohio State would use its tight ends, specifically Jeremy Ruckert, in the passing game and how much it would use them as pass catchers.
After all, that’s Gosnell’s strength. While Buckeye commit Bennett Christian is more of an in-line blocking tight end – though he’s improving as a pass catcher in his penultimate high school season – Gosnell is the guy Kevin Wilson and Co. are wanting to bring in as one who can be used in the slot or on the outside to be a threat in the passing game.
— Bennett Christian (@BennettC87) November 1, 2020
— Dasan Mccullough (@Dasan2022) November 1, 2020
Well, against Penn State, Ruckert was used quite a bit (at least for Ohio State’s standards) in the passing game. He was targeted five times and hauled in a pair of huge touchdowns on four receptions; Ohio State’s tight ends received seven total targets, finishing with six receptions for 54 yards. That had to be reassuring for Gosnell, who has told Eleven Warriors he was confident when Wilson told him the offense’s plan was to showcase Ruckert more.
Guess we’ll find out this week, but my confidence level is pretty high. Looks the Buckeye commits are pretty confident, too, based on those tweets.
Header photo: Damari Alston – Rusty Mansell/247Sports
