The Hurry-Up: Austin Jordan Remains Intriguing Option at Cornerback, Buckeyes Back in Race for Kojo Antwi, Making a Move for Christen Miller

By Zack Carpenter on March 12, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Austin Jordan
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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.

Jordan remains atop board

Over the past two days, we took an examination of two of Ohio State's highest-priority targets at cornerback.

First was four-star Toriano Pride of St. Louis, who is probably the Buckeyes' top target at the position, and then it was four-star Ryan Turner of Florida, who would probably be the 1B in that regard. The two are very close in terms of skillset and how they are valued.

Again, it's not an exhaustive list as there are a few other names on the board, but in rounding out the top-three remaining uncommitted targets, we can take a look at Ryan (Texas) four-star Austin Jordan.

If you're looking for the No. 1 reason why Jordan is coveted by Kerry Coombs, Matt Barnes and the rest of Ohio State's staff, you don't have to look any further than what he did on the track 

The kid can book it.

Jordan is the No. 173 overall player in the country after a slide down the composite rankings 20 slots and a drop down to a spot as the No. 21 cornerback. But Jordan's athleticism, speed and ability to cover are all massive assets that have the Buckeyes intrigued – not to mention the fact that he's doing it against some of the state of Texas' best high school competition.

Jordan's Ohio State recruitment was started by former Buckeye assistant Mike Yurcich and continued with former assistant Jeff Hafley, who visited Denton, Texas, a couple times to check out Jordan and some other players. They saw a long and physical defensive back who has only improved throughout his career.

Two weeks ago, Jordan narrowed his recruitment down to a top three of Ohio State, Texas and Oklahoma. The Buckeyes are probably running third in that recruitment as of now, with the Sooners in the pole position, and a visit from Jordan would be imperative here. There needs to also be some further evaluation of Jordan as a cornerback prospect from Ohio State's side of the equation.

Despite Ohio State not sitting in the top spot here, the Buckeyes' recent huge success in recruiting Texas and the fact that they have Quinn Ewers and Caleb Burton already in the fold in 2022 will help them going forward.

We still like either Pride or Turner to wind up in this class, but Jordan will remain in the mix.

Back in race for Antwi

Just two weeks ago, 247Sports reported that Kojo Antwi was down to a final three of Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M with Ohio State being left out of the mix.

After some miscommunication between Antwi and the Buckeyes' staff was corrected, the top-100 overall player and four-star receiver out of Georgia has Brian Hartline and Co. back in business.

Antwi announced on Thursday night that he is actually now down to a top five with Ohio State and USC joining the trio above. He will announce his commitment on his mother's birthday, July 5:

Have to love the Buckeyes' chances now that Antwi put them back in the mix, as Hartline still very much is in a position to get things done here.

Ohio State is searching for a third receiver to add to the pair of Burton and Kyion Grayes, and Antwi would be the perfect fit. He has visited Columbus previously, but if the dead period is lifted after May 31 (something we have been increasingly, but cautiously optimistic about) then that will go a long way for Antwi and Ohio State. A visit could seal the deal in the same way that it did for Grayes.

Making a push for Miller

As we noted earlier this week, the fact that four-star Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller pushed back his April 4 commitment date is good news for the Buckeyes.

It looks like they are making the most of that, too, as they are continuing their effort in pushing for the top-150 caliber player with a virtual visit this week.

Again, Georgia remains the team to beat here with the Bulldogs in the pole position, but Larry Johnson certainly has time to make a move here. You can bank on the Buckeyes making it part of their pitch to Miller that defensive tackle is one of their biggest needs and how his physicality and talent would be a great fit in their scheme.

Nelson trimmed list coming

Malachi Nelson is one of California's best prospects in either the 2022 or 2023 classes, and he will be highly sought after over the next several months as the recruiting world opens back up.

That heavy contingent of schools (he's been offered by two dozen programs thus far) is going to be whittled down in the near future. He told 247Sports' Greg Biggins that a top-10 list is coming soon, and the Buckeyes will certainly be part of that group:

Ohio State - "I like Ohio State a lot, they have a great program. They recruit at a high level and have standout players at every position. I know they have Quinn Ewers committed and he’s a great player. Even though he’s in the class right above me, I’m not afraid to compete with anyone and I’m still going to give Ohio State a hard look. I talk with coach Day and coach Dennis a lot and have a really good relationship with them. Justin Fields is a quarterback I really enjoyed watching and I think we have some similarities in how we play so that’s a school I definitely want to try and visit.”

I know it's very early and that Nelson loves Ohio State. He has been building a relationship with Day and his staff for a while now, ever since Day and Mike Yurcich made Nelson the first player the Buckeyes offered in the 2023 class in the fall of 2019.

With Ohio State having stacked quarterback classes in 2021 and 2022 with five-stars Kyle McCord and Ewers, however, I'm not as high on the Buckeyes' chances with the eventual five-star Nelson – a supreme talent who will be fighting for the No. 1 quarterback ranking over the next year.

Oklahoma and USC have the early edges here, so Day, Corey Dennis and Co. will have their work cut out for them if they want to pull Nelson from SoCal.

Header photo: Austin Jordan – Collin Kennedy/247Sports

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