The Hurry-Up: Five-Star WR Emeka Egbuka Will Visit to Oklahoma This Weekend, Pair of Buckeyes Featured in New Five-Star Rankings

By Zack Carpenter on December 1, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Emeka Egbuka
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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.

Egbuka confirms Oklahoma visit

Well, we just talked about it on Wednesday, but the news is finally here. Five-star Steilacoom (Washington) receiver Emeka Egbuka is going to make his long-awaited visit to Oklahoma this weekend, as reported by 247Sports' Brandon Huffman:

He had originally set up an official visit to Oklahoma for April to see the Sooners' spring game.  Then he was supposed to visit for the Sooner Summit, but that didn't happen.  But he was determined to get out to Norman before he makes a decision, and this weekend, the Sooners will have their shot.  Receivers coach Dennis Simmons has been the point man on his recruitment. He's gotten close with Caleb Williams, the Sooners quarterback commit in the 2021 class, who will be in Norman this weekend to guide Egbuka around town and campus. It's uncertain if he'll be able to see the Sooners game with Baylor, but he'll at minimum, be in Norman for a game weekend.  It will be the first time Egbuka visits and he'll be joined by his dad on the visit.

It will be a massive weekend in Egbuka's recruitment, as a visit to Norman has been the No. 1 thing holding him back from making a college decision – one that Huffman says could either come during the early signing period or perhaps not until February's National Signing Day.

As Hufman discussed in that piece, which is something we have all been talking about now for months, the Buckeyes are still the current favorite for Egbuka, and a huge part of that stems from his relationships with Brian Hartline and Ryan Day (which he has had for nearly three years ever since the two of them stepped foot into the Steilacoom hallways when Egbuka was a sophomore) and some of the current Buckeyes and their 2021 commits (notably Jaylen Johnson). Plus, Day's explosive offense and what looks like a concerted effort to move the Buckeyes to more of a pass-heavy offense with the quarterback and receiver recruits the program is bringing in.

New Rivals rankings

As we speak of the five-star Egbuka, there was a new rankings update by the folks at Rivals' recruiting network, and the 26-man list features two future Buckeyes (and maybe one or two more?) who will be going head-to-head in practice for years to come.

Defensive end Jack Sawyer (No. 12) and offensive guard Donovan Jackson (No. 13) could wind up being the best players at their respective positions in the class when it's all said and done, and they each impressed the scouts at Rivals.

 

Interestingly enough, composite five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson was left off that list of five-stars once again, falling to No. 79 overall as he's been ranked below the top 50 for the past year. (Insert "hmm" emoji on that one.)

Adeleye commitment coming soon

Borderline five-star defensive end Tunmise Adeleye – once an Ohio State commitment whose pledge in April came a bit out of nowhere, unlike his subsequent decommitment in August – is set to make a commitment to his new school on Dec. 17, the second day of the early signing period.

He reminded us of that on Monday night with a tweet asking for a commitment edit, as he will be choosing between Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida.

If he chooses the Tide, that will be yet another step for Nick Saban's program to take another recruiting crown, and it might be too much for the Buckeyes to get over the hump in winning that "award."

And speaking of the early signing period, that week is quickly coming up on us, and as if us busy bees at Eleven Warriors didn't already know that, Ohio State 2021 commits Jantzen Dunn and Jaylen Johnson sent out reminders last night. (Though Johnson must've just made a typo, as Dec. 16 is the official start of the three-day period.)

Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors throughout the month, and especially that week, for recruiting coverage of the early signing period.

Givens Crystal Balls

As we've noted what feels like 100 times by now, Ohio State is likely going to bring in five or six offensive linemen in its 2022 class, as misses with five-star offensive tackles JC Latham and Tristan Leigh (it's a likely miss, anyway, with Leigh set to announce his decision on January 2 with Oklahoma and LSU leading) in 2021 have made the need at the position even more crucial in the next cycle.

Greg Studrawa and Co. are looking for athletic linemen who fit their system, and that's exactly what five-star Virginia prospect Gunner Givens would provide.

However, unfortunately for Ohio State fans, Clemson is starting to gather some momentum for the nation's No. 23 overall player and No. 2 offensive tackle, as a pair of Crystal Ball predictions were dropped for Dabo Swinney and Co. to sweep him up.

Givens dropped a top six in November, telling 247Sports' Brian Dohn of Ohio State and Clemson:

Clemson: "Clemson speaks for itself. They showed me a lot of love and welcomed me (to campus on a visit). They play for national championships every year. It's a great academic school."

Ohio State: "Ohio State getting a bunch of commits in the 2022 class. They are playing for national championships. The coaching staff has been amazing to me. I have family up in Ohio, which is another huge deal to me."

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