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Welcome back for another edition of “A-Deck” at BuckeyeGrove.com, presented by Infinit Nutrition, where I’ll bring you thoughts, what I’m hearing, inside scoop, tidbits, and more for Ohio State recruiting and team coverage, every Wednesday.
Last week’s A-Deck was the debut on BuckeyeGrove of my Behind The Scenes: National Signing Day feature, where I tell some of the "untold stories" and "behind the scenes" details on prospects the Buckeyes recruited during the past cycle.
Today, we bring you Part 2 of this three part feature, with the third installment coming in next week's A-Deck.
Makari Page: This one is pretty straight forward. The Michigan signee absolutely wanted to be at Ohio State and the Buckeyes wanted him as well. This looked like close to a done deal, with OSU just needing to manage numbers as they waited on Lathan Ransom, as well as a number of other prospects on their board for other positions. At the time, Ohio State was under the impression (due to athletic department interpretation of the rule) that they had a hard cap of 25, when in fact that was not the way the rule was to be applied. The Buckeyes, with that in mind, had to make the tough decision to tell Page they couldn’t make the numbers work, and by the time they realized the athletic department had made an error, it was too late to go back, with Page committing to and eventually signing with the rival program.
Mike Drennan: This was a weird recruitment. Ultimately the two sides could never really get on the same page as far as where they were in the process. There’s no mistake about it that at one point Ohio State did make a press for Drennan, but he was not ready to shut things down as far as other visits and a commitment went. In playing the numbers game, the Buckeyes seemed to really just not have time for that. They liked Drennan, but he wasn’t a “must have” for them, and in the end, it just didn’t work out for what Ohio State needed and where Drennan was in the process.
Jaylan Knighton: Like with Robinson, Knighton let his intentions be known to Ohio State that he planned on committing there, but unlike with Robinson, the OSU staff was more skeptical about this one. Towards his announcement date, Knighton was supposed to visit Florida State for their big summer camp. One WHAC staffer told me that if Knighton didn’t make that trip, he felt good about OSU holding on, and that if he did, he felt he would commit to Florida State. What happened? Knighton did make that trip to Tallahassee and ended up committing to the Seminoles. When Willie Taggart got let go, Knighton backed off his pledge. At the time, many Ohio State fans were clamoring for the program to get back in on the Florida speedster, but I was told for a number of reasons that they wouldn’t be pursuing him. Ultimately I don’t think the Buckeyes liked the way Knighton handled things the first time around, whereas Robinson handled them much more “professionally”. The Bucks never went after Knighton again and he ended up signing with Miami.
Jalen Berger: When Greg Schiano was on staff, the Buckeyes actually liked Berger as a safety/athlete and were definitely recruiting him with a good amount of effort. When Schiano left, communication definitely dipped between the two sides, as Jeff Hafley didn’t target Berger for his side of the ball, and Ohio State was never really sold on him as “the guy” at running back, either. At one point in the process, I know for a fact that OSU was where Berger wanted to end up, and even when he wasn’t getting a ton of attention from the Buckeyes, he was still holding out hope that the pieces would fall into place. While the seat was kept warm for a while, OSU never really went after the New Jersey product, and he ended up committing to Wisconsin over UCLA and Rutgers, among others.
Rakim Jarrett/Tre Williams/Mekhail Sherman: This Washington D.C. St. John’s College trio looked headed to Ohio State early in the process, but the sudden retirement of Urban Meyer really threw this one for a loop. With Sherman, he was very close to Meyer, and once the head man retired, it opened the door for others, including Georgia, where his sister (who was a big part of the process) really connected with the staff, and ultimately became his home. With Williams, I’m not sure Ohio State was ever that high on him, but he was definitely a strong possibility, especially if they could rope in all three players. Once Meyer retired, interested dipped a little on the OSU side, and I know for a fact they were not ready to take him when he committed to Clemson. Williams wasn’t feeling any love from the Buckeyes, but was feeling a ton of love from the Tigers, and ultimately found a home there. With Jarrett, he was the highest on Ohio State, and I was told he was planning to commit to the Buckeyes on a planned visit to “The Game” in Columbus in November 2018, all he needed was for his mom, who hadn’t been to Ohio State yet, to sign off. When Meyer retired, that really threw things for a loop, and Jarrett ended up slowing things down. Ohio State secured the commitment from a number of other big time receivers, and Jarrett ended up looking elsewhere---committing to LSU for most of the process before flipping to Maryland late.
LV Bunkley-Shelton/Devell Washington/Rashawn Williams: Not much to say here but at one point all of these guys wanted into the Ohio State class. And Ohio State liked these guys too. But it was just the wrong year to want to be a receiver for the Buckeyes, as the four they got are absolutely studs and top 50 overall type talents.
Luke Lachey: Most people know that Lachey and Joe Royer went head to head at Ohio State’s camp for an offer, with Royer coming out on top and eventually committing to the Buckeyes. What most don’t know is that many inside the WHAC thought it would be Lachey who would prevail, and eventually end up in the class. To be clear, I am told there was nothing wrong with Lachey and that he performed very well that day---it was just that Royer was incredible and earned the opportunity to don the Scarlet and Gray in what was a one tight end class. Had Ohio State been able to take two tight ends, either Lachey (Iowa) or Cam Large (Wisconsin) would have ended up in the class.
Cam Large: Speaking of Large, he absolutely favored Ohio State for most of the process. He thought they’d be going with a two tight end class early on, and if that was the case, there was a good chance he’d be a Buckeye right now. Unfortunately, things basically ended for Cam and the Buckeyes after Royer earned an offer and took it. Once he was informed of that decision by the OSU staff, he turned his attention to Wisconsin, where he eventually committed. Large was definitely disappointed the way things worked out, but he’s very happy with his opportunity with the Badgers.
Michael Carmody: While many thought Penn State would be tough to beat for Carmody, it was actually Ohio State who was in the driver’s seat for a while in this one, and was heading towards a summer commitment. Notre Dame, where his brother plays hoops, then came in with an offer, and it was virtually over from there, with OSU really unable to do anything to change the 6-foot-5, 283-pounder’s mind. It’s crazy to think that a very good Ohio State o-line class could have been even better had the Irish not come in with that offer as it looked like they weren’t going to for a long time.
Jake Wray: Ohio State definitely liked Wray, especially early on, but they never felt he was a “must have” in the class. When Meyer stepped down, Wray decided to open things up, and while I don’t think the Buckeyes held that against him, they weren’t going to sit around and hold a spot for him either. As both sides explored options, it just became clear that it was best for the two parties to move on, which is what happened, as the Scarlet and Gray brought in six linemen and Wray ended up pledging to Colorado.
Be sure to check back in with A-Deck next week for part 3 of "Behind The Scenes: National Signing Day 2020"
