Weekend Visitors
Ohio State had a few prospects on campus this weekend, some of whom we have already profiled on the site. But I will start with Iverson Clement as there was a lot of talk about him possibly committing this weekend.
In fact, the plan WAS to commit to Ohio State this weekend, but I'm told OSU just isn't quite ready on that. Ohio State has not had a chance to Clement in person on a football field and with a lot of RB/WR/DB options at this point, wants to A. build a better relationship before taking a commitment and B. would prefer to see him at camp and try to work him out and see where he might fit best.
Which brings us to the Tavion Thomas offer. While Thomas and Clement are different types of players and aren't necessarily in a 'one or the other' type of situation, the new offer could make things a little tougher for an out-of-state player like Clement to find his way into the fold.
I am told the offer to Thomas isn't just something to keep him warm, but with Tavion wanting to continue to let the process play out and take visits, it may have been calculated a bit in terms of knowing he wouldn't jump right on it.
That buys Ohio State a little bit of time at least to try and sort things out in the RB/WR groups. As I've said before, I think Zamir White is a long shot so while you keep fighting that battle and you keep recruiting a kid like Lorenzo Lingard, we could very well see a Snead/Thomas/Gill trio at the running back/H spots, which again, makes it tougher on the Clement's of the world to find a spot in the class.
My conversation with Rivals250 OL Jalil Irvin was interesting. He seems very upbeat about Ohio State. Ohio State will definitely need to see him in person though. Whether that is during a spring practice in Georgia or at camp in June or July. Irvin was committed to Michigan early in the process and visited there again this past week so the Wolverines may still be in a pretty good position there.
We're in a new era of recruiting where kids can commit early and then decommit and that school remains in the picture, used to be a death sentence all the way up until about a year ago.
Best of the Midwest primer
The Best of the Midwest camp will take place on Monday in Indianapolis, Kevin and I drove in this evening so we're all set to be there tomorrow. We'll have updates, video, interviews tomorrow and throughout the week from the event.
This always signals the start of camp season for me, this even typically draws excellent talent from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan and Monday should be no different.
New Ohio State offer Tavion Thomas out of Dayton Dunbar is expected to be there so it will be nice to get another live evaluation on him. I'm less concerned about his 40 time tomorrow and more concerned about watching his feet and quickness, but he is clearly a very talented athlete who is starting to put together quite an offer list.
Thomas will headline the running backs group but the other guy I'm looking forward to seeing again is class of 2020 Dublin Coffman product Mike Drennen. Drennen was an extremely rare (possibly first ever?) varsity starter for Coffman as a freshman this past fall and will be very highly recruited over the next few years.
The receiver group could be interesting if the basketball kids show up. Huber Heights Wayne's L'Christian Smith and Dayton Dunbar's Jojo Scates are both on the list and were among the best prospects at this event a year ago, Leonard Taylor is also expected to work out as a tight end and should be here with a group from Springfield. 2019 Michigan product Julian Barnett is another big-time talent at the position that is expected to attend.
The headliner on the offensive line is 2019 Michigan product Devontae Dobbs. Dobbs is one of the best class of 2019 prospects that I have personally seen so far.
On defense, Ohio linebacker Xavier Peters out of Lakota West is expected. He is kind of the Tavion Thomas on defense right now in Ohio in terms of getting a ton of offers recently. This will be my first look at Xavier since early in the football season when he wasn't even playing much defense and was actually playing wide receiver.
Peters' class of 2019 teammate Steven Faucheux, a defensive end, will also be there. Faucheux has racked up a handful of early offers but will not be working out due to injury. 2019 is looking like the year of the defensive lineman in Ohio, already about a half dozen very talented prospects in the state, including the only two prospects in that class so far to hold offers from the Buckeyes.
Will also get another look at impressive 2019 DB Moses Douglass out of Springfield. Douglass missed most of his sophomore season with an injury before returning late in the year. He has grown and filled out over the past six months so with the talent at receiver at the camp, there could be some fun match-ups.
Gaoteote commits to USC
USC had been picking up some momentum recently with top outside linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, but things really came together quickly with a commitment to the Trojans this evening, basically just as we set foot in our hotel in Indianapolis.
I do not expect Ohio State to stop recruiting Gaoteote, but the early commitment to USC has to be troubling. The Trojans have gradually picked up a lot of recruiting momentum over the past six months, after being an afterthought as recently as this past September. A strong USC makes it very tough to recruit that part of the country for out-of-region schools.
But this is another example of the brotherhood that is felt between the polynesian kids. USC was able to use that angle to its advantage to swoop in late on Jay Tufele and it also was a big part here with Gaoteote.
Ohio State is going to have its work cut out for it here to pull off a flip between now and National Signing Day. Not going to handicap chances on a flip right now, it is far too early to do that. Not even Florida kids start wavering the day they commit, so we'll see where this thing is at in June/July and if the Buckeyes are able to convince him to take another visit. Certainly a tough loss on a recruit that looked very much like a kid who could be in this class for the Buckeyes.
If there is a silver lining here, it's that Gaoteote did this very early on in a year where there are several very good linebackers in Ohio. It is a very tough loss, but one that OSU has nearly 12 months to recover from.
Ohio State had a few prospects on campus this weekend, some of whom we have already profiled on the site. But I will start with Iverson Clement as there was a lot of talk about him possibly committing this weekend.
In fact, the plan WAS to commit to Ohio State this weekend, but I'm told OSU just isn't quite ready on that. Ohio State has not had a chance to Clement in person on a football field and with a lot of RB/WR/DB options at this point, wants to A. build a better relationship before taking a commitment and B. would prefer to see him at camp and try to work him out and see where he might fit best.
Which brings us to the Tavion Thomas offer. While Thomas and Clement are different types of players and aren't necessarily in a 'one or the other' type of situation, the new offer could make things a little tougher for an out-of-state player like Clement to find his way into the fold.
I am told the offer to Thomas isn't just something to keep him warm, but with Tavion wanting to continue to let the process play out and take visits, it may have been calculated a bit in terms of knowing he wouldn't jump right on it.
That buys Ohio State a little bit of time at least to try and sort things out in the RB/WR groups. As I've said before, I think Zamir White is a long shot so while you keep fighting that battle and you keep recruiting a kid like Lorenzo Lingard, we could very well see a Snead/Thomas/Gill trio at the running back/H spots, which again, makes it tougher on the Clement's of the world to find a spot in the class.
My conversation with Rivals250 OL Jalil Irvin was interesting. He seems very upbeat about Ohio State. Ohio State will definitely need to see him in person though. Whether that is during a spring practice in Georgia or at camp in June or July. Irvin was committed to Michigan early in the process and visited there again this past week so the Wolverines may still be in a pretty good position there.
We're in a new era of recruiting where kids can commit early and then decommit and that school remains in the picture, used to be a death sentence all the way up until about a year ago.
Best of the Midwest primer
The Best of the Midwest camp will take place on Monday in Indianapolis, Kevin and I drove in this evening so we're all set to be there tomorrow. We'll have updates, video, interviews tomorrow and throughout the week from the event.
This always signals the start of camp season for me, this even typically draws excellent talent from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan and Monday should be no different.
New Ohio State offer Tavion Thomas out of Dayton Dunbar is expected to be there so it will be nice to get another live evaluation on him. I'm less concerned about his 40 time tomorrow and more concerned about watching his feet and quickness, but he is clearly a very talented athlete who is starting to put together quite an offer list.
Thomas will headline the running backs group but the other guy I'm looking forward to seeing again is class of 2020 Dublin Coffman product Mike Drennen. Drennen was an extremely rare (possibly first ever?) varsity starter for Coffman as a freshman this past fall and will be very highly recruited over the next few years.
The receiver group could be interesting if the basketball kids show up. Huber Heights Wayne's L'Christian Smith and Dayton Dunbar's Jojo Scates are both on the list and were among the best prospects at this event a year ago, Leonard Taylor is also expected to work out as a tight end and should be here with a group from Springfield. 2019 Michigan product Julian Barnett is another big-time talent at the position that is expected to attend.
The headliner on the offensive line is 2019 Michigan product Devontae Dobbs. Dobbs is one of the best class of 2019 prospects that I have personally seen so far.
On defense, Ohio linebacker Xavier Peters out of Lakota West is expected. He is kind of the Tavion Thomas on defense right now in Ohio in terms of getting a ton of offers recently. This will be my first look at Xavier since early in the football season when he wasn't even playing much defense and was actually playing wide receiver.
Peters' class of 2019 teammate Steven Faucheux, a defensive end, will also be there. Faucheux has racked up a handful of early offers but will not be working out due to injury. 2019 is looking like the year of the defensive lineman in Ohio, already about a half dozen very talented prospects in the state, including the only two prospects in that class so far to hold offers from the Buckeyes.
Will also get another look at impressive 2019 DB Moses Douglass out of Springfield. Douglass missed most of his sophomore season with an injury before returning late in the year. He has grown and filled out over the past six months so with the talent at receiver at the camp, there could be some fun match-ups.
Gaoteote commits to USC
USC had been picking up some momentum recently with top outside linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, but things really came together quickly with a commitment to the Trojans this evening, basically just as we set foot in our hotel in Indianapolis.
I do not expect Ohio State to stop recruiting Gaoteote, but the early commitment to USC has to be troubling. The Trojans have gradually picked up a lot of recruiting momentum over the past six months, after being an afterthought as recently as this past September. A strong USC makes it very tough to recruit that part of the country for out-of-region schools.
But this is another example of the brotherhood that is felt between the polynesian kids. USC was able to use that angle to its advantage to swoop in late on Jay Tufele and it also was a big part here with Gaoteote.
Ohio State is going to have its work cut out for it here to pull off a flip between now and National Signing Day. Not going to handicap chances on a flip right now, it is far too early to do that. Not even Florida kids start wavering the day they commit, so we'll see where this thing is at in June/July and if the Buckeyes are able to convince him to take another visit. Certainly a tough loss on a recruit that looked very much like a kid who could be in this class for the Buckeyes.
If there is a silver lining here, it's that Gaoteote did this very early on in a year where there are several very good linebackers in Ohio. It is a very tough loss, but one that OSU has nearly 12 months to recover from.
