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.
Grayes being patient with decision, recruiting process
By now, many people expected that Kyion Grayes would have already welcomed himself into the fold as one of Ohio State’s receiver commits in the 2022 class.
But the four-star out of Chandler (Arizona) High School has not yet made that move. While I do believe he will wind up committing to the Buckeyes at some point soon, perhaps over the next month, Grayes has not solidified anything as he continues to be patient with his decision and the recruiting process.
“I still wanna wait a little,” Grayes told Eleven Warriors. “I know where my heart is. Just wanna make sure that it’s 100 (percent).”
Grayes told us that he hopes to make a visit to Ohio State at some point soon, but a plan for a visit has not yet been put into motion. Getting to Columbus before making a decision may not be as important for Grayes as it is for someone like 2021 target Raesjon Davis, but a trip to campus would still be a good next box for him to check off.
In the meantime, Grayes is continuing to mend a very minor ankle injury this offseason, but he expects to get back to training and on-field activities in the near future. When he does, he will be able to return to working on a skillset that mirrors that of one of the Buckeyes’ returning star players in Chris Olave.
Olave is perhaps the No. 1 player who Grayes looks up to, and he hopes to have a conversation with Olave some day soon in order to grasp a better knowledge of how to become a better receiver.
Grayes, the No. 312 overall player, No. 46 receiver and No. 3 player in Arizona, is one of the Buckeyes' priority receivers in the 2022 cycle in addition to players like Kojo Antwi, C.J. Williams and Kaleb Brown. Ohio State is most likely looking at taking three receivers in the class, though it's at least possible that number could wind up jumping to four.
Effects of Pruitt firing
When we spoke with Ohio State priority 2022 running back Dallan Hayden, the four-star Memphis prospect said that Tennessee was not necessarily his favorite despite his family’s history with the program.
He is a Volunteers legacy with his father having played there as a running back in the 90s and his mother having been a cheerleader there. But still, Hayden stopped short of calling Tennessee the favorite in a recruitment that has been whittled down to the Vols and three other schools (Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon) in his top four.
Blessed to be in this position. Happy New Year Everyone.. #Buckeyes#FightingIrish#Scoducks #GBO pic.twitter.com/wQ49F0godx
— Dallan Hayden1 (@DCH__2) January 1, 2021
Tennessee, however, is still probably the No. 1 opponent for the Buckeyes in Hayden’s recruitment because of that legacy. But when the Vols fired Jeremy Pruitt this week, that opened the possibility for the Buckeyes to take the lead in his recruitment even further.
One of Pruitt’s pitches to Hayden has been that he wanted to keep the top in-state players from Tennessee within the state boundaries. This feels like the only recruitment in the 2022 class where Tennessee is a real threat to Ohio State, so it’s the key one to keep an eye on as Tennessee’s coaching situation unfolds.
Learning from dad
Speaking of Hayden, as one final note from our interview with him, we asked how his dad has helped along both on the field and in the recruiting process.
Hayden said his father is “always telling me to get to my linemen’s feet, find the hole and then get to the end zone. He just makes sure to tell me to trust my instincts. And he just always tells me to enjoy the (recruiting) process because you only get this once. Don’t let it stress you out or anything, just make the decision that’s best for you.”
Moore's top eight
Getting this to you a day late, but a top target in the 2022 class, four-star offensive lineman Demon Moore, released a recruiting update for us on Thursday afternoon with a top-eight list.
Top 8.@SWiltfong247 @TomLoy247 @CMAnderson247 @Bryan_Ault @GlennMariniWANE @SniderFB @SeanW_Rivals @Rivals_Singer @RivalsDave @rivalskeenan @DemetricDWarren @AllenTrieu #weare#gigem #ScoDucks #GBR #LEO#Buckeyes #asu#mizzou pic.twitter.com/fm2viZy5is
— DJ (@demonmoore1) January 21, 2021
Ohio State finds itself pitted against Penn State, Oregon, Missouri, Nebraska, Arizona State, Indiana and Texas A&M for the nation's No. 288 overall player, No. 6 offensive guard and No. 7 player out of Indiana.
Moore, a 6-foot-5, 315-pounder out of Fort Wayne, told 247Sports' Steve Wiltfong that he talks with “Ohio State and Oregon the most. I know the most about Coach (Alex) Mirabal or Coach (Greg Studrawa).”
Header photo: Kyion Grayes – Rob Schumacher/USA Today
