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.
Stockton pursuing Antwi
Speaking in January with four-star Lambert (Georgia) prospect Kojo Antwi, the nation's No. 19 receiver in the 2022 class told Eleven Warriors that there were three main programs going after him the most.
“I think Georgia and Ohio State are the two schools really coming at me hard,” Antwi said, also noting that the Crimson Tide were making a good push. “It’s either Bama or OSU for Receiver U. Bama’s been showing me love as well. I’ve gotten on the phone with Coach Saban a lot and talked with Coach (Holmon) Wiggins and Coach (Charles) Kelly a lot. I’ve seen a couple of their practices and FaceTimed with Jaylen Waddle, actually, which was crazy. Bama’s been showing me a lot of love, and that’s something that I like.
“(Georgia is) the homestate school. I really like the coaching staff, I’ve gotten on the phone with Kirby Smart a few times.”
Antwi said that he was pretty fired up about getting to speak with Smart and that the Bulldogs, like Brian Hartline and the Buckeyes, had made it crystal clear that he is a priority target.
Georgia is making an even more concerted effort in the hunt for the nation's No. 162 overall prospect, as recent five-star quarterback commit Gunner Stockton has begun his pursuit of the 6-foot-1, 185-pound wideout, 247Sports' Rusty Mansell reported from a 7-on-7 event over the weekend:
Gunner Stockton is not playing baseball this season for the first time so he can play with this team and recruit others to join him in Athens.
No question major targets are Kojo Antwi and Oscar Delp on this team, but so is Four-Star WR De’Nylon Morrissette . Antwi is nursing a hamstring so he was off to the side today. Stockton made sure every rep he took was with him.
...
Stockton is a huge piece of the 2022 class, by himself, but I think it will be a bigger addition when this class is said and done because he has wasted no time recruiting others. He called all of those guys personally right before his commitment went public to UGA
Antwi still hopes to hold off on a decision until he can take visits, notably to Ohio State. He has family in Ohio, and he has visited Cincinnati and visited Columbus once to see an uncle. He enjoyed his brief time in the city and hopes to visit again in April.
When he previously told us of a potential target date for a decision, Antwi said, “Hopefully before my senior year, so this summer. Hopefully the dead period doesn’t extend and I’ll take the majority of my visits and get a feel for what school I’m leaning to. Around July is when I’d commit.”
Anderson joins Allen on LSU decommit list
All the way back in April, four-star safety Bryce Anderson, the No. 66 overall prospect and No. 4 safety in America's 2022 cycle, was offered by the Buckeyes and told Eleven Warriors that his recruitment was “100 percent open.”
That statement came despite Anderson having been committed to LSU since September 2019.
Well, over the weekend, Anderson made it (somehow) even more 100 percent open by announcing his decommitment from the Tigers. Anderson joins fellow top-75 Texas safety Bryan Allen Jr. – the No. 71 overall player and No. 5 safety in 2022 – in reopening his recruitment following Allen's decommitment from LSU on January 21.
— Bryan Allen Jr (@BJThaKid04) January 21, 2021
— (@BryceAnderson_1) January 30, 2021
Both players have been recruited as defensive backs by Kerry Coombs and Matt Barnes, and they each have interest in possibly coming to Columbus.
Anderson's interest in the Buckeyes has always been very real, and much of that, he told us shortly after Ohio State came calling with an offer, is because, “I'm going to a school that's putting DBs in the league and (putting a lot in the) first round, and I'm going to whichever fits me,” he said.
As for Allen, he told us shortly after he was offered by the Buckeyes that, “the conversation with me and Coach Barnes and Coombs went very good. The best part of the conversation was that they have 23 student players that graduated and all have their degrees. Before then, a month ago, I was talking to Coach Barnes, starting to build that relationship up.”
Anderson holds more than 30 offers, including from Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and USC, in addition to Ohio State and LSU.
Allen, meanwhile, holds about two dozen offers highlighted by Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Texas and USC, plus the Buckeye and Tiger offers.
McCord wins POTY
Another major award for another major Buckeye.
Five-star quarterback Kyle McCord, an early enrollee out of Philadelphia's St. Joseph Prep, already won the Philadelphia Catholic League's Red Division Player of the Year award for the 2020 season.
On Monday, the Buckeyes' highest-rated signee at quarterback since Braxton Miller took home another trophy – the Maxwell Football Club's Player of the Year award that honors the top player in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware area.
“This year’s Jim Henry Winner faced numerous challenges both on and off the field and he consistently rose to meet those challenges,” Maxwell Football Club President, Mark Dianno, said. “Kyle McCord is a sterling example of the hard work, dedication, and service that have become the hallmarks of Jim Henry Award winners. The winner of the Jim Henry Award is always an excellent football player but must also set himself apart in the classroom and in the community at large.
“Despite the many obstacles posed by the pandemic, Kyle elevated his academic performance and served several different communities in need. Kyle has indeed distinguished himself, his family, his school, his coaches, his program, and is a well-deserved winner of the 2020 Jim Henry Award as Tri-State High School Player of the Year. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and all the members of the Maxwell Football Club, we congratulate and salute Kyle on being the 35th Jim Henry Award Winner and wish him much success in his future endeavors.”
Header photo: Gunner Stockton – John Whittle/247Sports
