The Hurry-Up: Ohio State is “No. 1” for Bryce West, Buckeyes Offer Neeo Avery, Gabe Powers and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Earn Gatorade Player of the Year Honors

By Garrick Hodge on December 7, 2021 at 7:30 pm
Neeo Avery
Twitter/@Neeo_avery
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Ohio State fandom came early in Bryce West’s life.

Being from the Cleveland area, the 2024 cornerback was hooked on Ohio State football ever since he was young. 

“I’ve always been an Ohio State fan growing up,” West told Eleven Warriors. 

That made last week extra special for the 5-foot-11, 177-pound defensive back from Glenville High School. Ryan Day presented West with his eighth Division I scholarship offer on Friday. It was an indescribable feeling for West, who also has offers from Michigan State, Kentucky, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Boston College. 

“It felt great getting that offer,” he said. “What made it great is that the head coach offered me. He said he liked my physical build, my aggression and passion for the game and most importantly he told me to stay hungry.”

West comes from a Glenville program that has produced no shortage of impact players for Ohio State including Ted Ginn Jr., Troy Smith, Cardale Jones, Chris Worley, Marshon Lattimore and Donte Whitner. He’s currently coached by Ted Ginn Sr. 

“What’s appealing about Ohio State is many people from my school graduated from Ohio State and played for Ohio State and went to the NFL,” West said. “From there, I would also love to play for them. The team is coached up very well and is very disciplined.”

He was first noticed by Ohio State as a freshman, then impressed coaches at an OSU camp this summer, which he said led to more communication from the Buckeyes. West took a game day visit to Ohio Stadium on Sept. 11 for the home opener against Oregon. 

“They definitely rank number one on my list (right now). Very good atmosphere,” West said of Ohio State compared to his other offers. 

West said he’ll be visiting Ohio State numerous times over the next year. As a player, West describes himself as a cornerback who can tackle well and excel in coverage, especially man-to-man coverage. 

“I’m very aggressive and take no opponent lightly,” he said. 

Recruiting West early may turn out to be advantageous for OSU, considering one of the biggest factors West is looking for in his recruitment is a school that wants him to be there. 

“I like colleges with great atmosphere, fans that show lots of love and the colleges that show you the most, that make it their business to get you,” West said.

Buckeyes offer Avery

A flurry of offers have been extended to various recruits in the 2023 and 2024 classes over the past week, and it doesn’t appear Ohio State plans on slowing down that trend any time soon. 

On Tuesday, OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson extended an offer to 2023 four-star defensive end Neeo Avery. 

Avery, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end from Maryland, has 11 Division I offers including Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Kentucky and Cincinnati. According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Avery is considered the 275th-best player and the 21st-best edge rusher in the 2023 cycle.

Powers, Jackson named state players of the year

2022 Ohio State linebacker commit Gabe Powers earned a prestigious honor on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound linebacker was named the Gatorade Player of The Year for the state of Ohio, which recognizes 50 athletes from 50 states for athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. There will be one national player of the year chosen from the 50 nominees, which will be announced in December.

This season, Powers racked up 90 tackles with 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and six sacks for Marysville, which made it to the Ohio regional finals.

Like Powers, it’s been a big year for 2022 four-star defensive end commit Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who was named the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year on Tuesday. 

Jackson, who will try and lead Chaminade-Madonna Prep (Hollywood, Florida) to a Class 3A championship on Friday along with fellow 2022 Ohio State commit Ryan Turner, has 55 tackles (17 for loss), 14 sacks and 15 quarterback hurries this season.

Nwankpa to commit Wednesday 

After a long recruitment process, Ohio State will finally learn if it will land one of its most coveted defensive targets in the 2022 class. Four-star Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa is set to pick a school from a final three of Iowa, Ohio State and Notre Dame at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Ohio State made an in-home visit to Nwankpa last week, and Iowa got the final in-home visit on Monday. 

Nwankpa is expected to choose either OSU or Iowa, with his hometown Hawkeyes being the presumptive favorite.

OSU reportedly no longer interested in Ricks

One day after a report came out that LSU transfer Eli Ricks would be visiting OSU this weekend, another report surfaced that the Buckeyes are no longer interested in the five-star cornerback. 

Ricks was named a freshman All-American for his debut season in 2020, but multiple injuries caused him to miss most of his sophomore season, including a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Ricks plans to make his decision by mid-December and enroll at his new school in January. 

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