That first day back after a week-long vacation sure hits like a truck, doesn’t it?
In any case, we’re back to catch you up on recruiting items you may have missed in the last week while I was out running around in the northern woods of Wisconsin. Let’s get right to it.
Anthony Sacca visiting OSU on Wednesday
As many of you already know, Ohio State is set to host a big recruiting event on Friday with several high-profile players in various classes expected to attend, and we’ll go into more detail about that in Friday’s Hurry-Up.
But the Buckeyes will also have the chance to host a key 2025 target ahead of that event in four-star Philadelphia linebacker Anthony Sacca, who confirmed he’ll make his first trip to OSU on Wednesday.
7/26* https://t.co/YYdjt8uNMP
— Anthony Sacca (@saccaanthony) July 23, 2023
Sacca is considered the 137th-ranked prospect and the 17th-best linebacker in the 2025 class. He picked up his offer from OSU on Dec. 16 of 2021 and has racked up more than 20 Division I offers in total. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound prospect plays for St. Joseph’s Prep School, the alma mater of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kyle McCord.
Five-star 2025 OT Micah DeBose making trip to Columbus this week
One of those premier visitors to OSU this weekend will be five-star 2025 Alabama offensive tackle Micah DeBose, who confirmed to 247Sports that he’ll be in Columbus this week, starting on Tuesday. DeBose, who is currently committed to Georgia, also said he plans on attending the Buckeyes’ recruiting get-together on Friday.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound DeBose is considered the 18th-best prospect and third-ranked offensive tackle in the 2025 class. He doesn’t hold an OSU offer as of yet, but that could very likely change this week.
Cai Bates announcing his decision on Wednesday
One of Ohio State’s remaining cornerback targets in the 2024 class is set to commit on Wednesday. Four-star Florida cornerback Cai Bates will choose from his final seven teams at 6:30 p.m., including Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, Florida State and Colorado.
I will be committing July 26th at Edgewater High school in the auditorium at 6:30 PM, Everyone is welcome and all media is welcome as well.
— Cai Bates 4 (@bates_cai) July 18, 2023
Bates, considered the 107th-ranked prospect and 11th-rated cornerback in the 2024 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings, took an unofficial visit to OSU in early June. The Buckeyes aren’t seen as the favorite to land the 6-foot-2, 180-pound product, though, as Tennessee and LSU are viewed as the leading contenders for Bates in the recruiting industry.
OSU has two cornerbacks committed in 2024 in Bryce West and Miles Lockhart, and is eagerly awaiting the decision of in-state priority target Aaron Scott, who’s set to make his decision on Sunday.
Spillman, Ffrench, Gipson, Jacob, KVA commit elsewhere
Several prospects with Ohio State offers made commitments in the last week, all of whom chose to play for schools other than OSU. Four-star 2024 linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa committed to Notre Dame Sunday, while 2024 linebacker Edwin Spillman chose Tennessee Friday. Defensive back Corian Gipson chose Clemson Saturday and safety Brandon Jacob picked Maryland Thursday. Of those mentioned, Viliamu-Asa is the lone prospect that was considered an OSU lean until about a day before his decision.
The lone 2025 prospect of the group, five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench, committed to Alabama on Saturday, though with Signing Day being more than a year away, it’s fair to wonder if that recruitment is truly over.
