- 30 year fixed rates in the mid 2’s; 15 year fixed rates below 2%
- 3,000+ 5 star reviews
- A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau
- Nearly 100 Grove members have closed with JFQ
- Free appraisal covered by JFQ
- Email info@jfqlending.com or PM AZBuckeye6 for a free mortgage review
Joseph Hastings' Report
2023 four-star wideout names Ohio State his leader
Only six pass catchers in the 2023 cycle have hauled in offers from Brian Hartline and company thus far, with one of those being four-star prospect Braylon James.
James has become somewhat of a familiar name for Ohio State fans already. James, who is a former high school teammates of Buckeyes pledge Caleb Burton, was given the green light by the staff in April, and recently took a visit to Columbus on June 23.
Now, James says Ohio State has taken over the top spot in his recruitment.
“Things are definitely still open for me,” James said. “I still have a few more schools I wanted to see before I started narrowing down but, right now, they’re definitely my favorite. I can see them being in my top five by the time I start to shut things down.”
If you recall, James told media members during last month’s visit that he was looking to return to tOSU’s campus in late June. That trip never transpired, however, but the Texas-based prospect says he will definitely attend a game in the fall.
We would imagine that James would be accompanied by Burton on a future trip to Ohio State. James says the Rivals100 wideout has been “kinda chill” recently with recruiting him, but that Burton will “go ballistic” when it’s crunch time in his recruitment.
Looking at his recruiting process in general, James told me that with 29 offers on the table, he desires three more offers: Ones from Alabama, Clemson and North Carolina. He does not have a timetable for a decision set up just yet.
It’s still early, but I definitely could see the Buckeyes’ 2023 WR class featuring James, IMG Academy target Carnell Tate, and Las Vegas-based recruit Zachariah Branch. With how well Hartline, Billy Fessler and the rest of the program are doing on the trail, another stellar class at wideout could be on the way.
Notes on defensive end targets Enai White and Kenyatta Jackson
Ohio State’s program and fanbase is still rejoicing in what was one of their most impressive recruiting victories in recent memory: Landing J.T. Tuimoloau.
Larry Johnson and the staff can’t rest on their laurels too long, however, as they are looking to put together another strong d-end haul in the 2022 cycle. Carson will get to Omari Abor down below, but I wanted to make a couple of notes on Enai White and Kenyatta Jackson.
Starting with White, I was told by a source in Columbus that the Buckeyes are feeling good about where things stand with him. White is really intrigued by Johnson’s willingness to use him as a hands-in-the-dirt edge rusher, which has been different from some other schools’ desire to utilize him as a hybrid outside linebacker/d-end.
Also, White’s official visit at the end of last month reaffirmed his thoughts on Johnson, and the development opportunities across the board are appealing to him. I will note as well that I was told by one of his coaches that he does not believe Tuimoloau’s decision is going to influence White’s consideration of the Buckeyes.
Another thing I did hear is that Ohio State may have some other options higher on the board at this time that they are keeping an eye on. Those are Abor, Caden Curry, Gabriel Dindy and Shemar Stewart, with the Buckeyes having made strides with Dindy and Stewart during their visits last month.
To be clear, this is not me saying the program wouldn’t take White today; I’m just hearing that that they would prefer to see where things go with the four prospects mentioned above.
Alabama and Georgia are also high in the mix for White, and I would expect his upcoming top four to feature those two programs, Ohio State and another school, potentially Clemson or Florida. This is a wait-and-see situation, and there is no clear-cut leader at this time from what I’ve heard.
Switching over to Jackson, you may have noticed that Josh McCuistion of our Oklahoma site on Rivals.com recently submitted a FutureCast in favor of the Sooners landing him. Josh informed me that he’s hearing Oklahoma’s staff is feeling “pretty confident” with Jackson, and that it’s been indicated to him a decision may not be far off.
From what I was told, Jackson is kind of in the same boat as White when it comes to Ohio State’s staff’s pursuit of him. I think the Buckeyes are in his top two, but they want to monitor the recruitments of Abor, Curry, Dindy and Stewart.
I’m following up more on Jackson, but I’m tempted to agree with McCuistion if he winds up committing sooner rather than later.
Multiple prospects include Ohio State as one of their top schools
Over the past few days, the Buckeyes made the latest round of cuts for some of the top prospects in the 2022 and 2023 cycles.
On Friday, Ohio State landed in the top nine for Rivals100 defensive tackle Hero Kanu. It appears, however, that it could be a top 10 now as Notre Dame just dipped into his recruitment.
Kanu and I caught up over the phone (I did not realize he was in Germany at this time, so my phone bill will be higher this month than I expected) for about 10 minutes after he revealed his list. Kanu told me the primary reason the Buckeyes made the cut because of how well last month’s trip to the school went.
The June visit was initially supposed to be one day, but Kanu enjoyed his time with Johnson and the staff so much that he stayed an extra day. Kanu liked everything he heard from Johnson as a coach and as a person, and will return to the school on an official visit in late October for their matchup with Penn State.
Click HERE for my full update on Kanu, who will not be announcing his decision until Jan. 8, 2022.
Staying in the 2022 class, Rivals100 safety Zion Branch included Ohio State in his top five just over 24 hours ago. The other finalists in his recruitment are Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and USC.
I’m slated to speak with Branch on Wednesday, but I still have this one as a Buckeyes-Trojans battle. My pick would be Ohio State if he was to commit in the near future, though that likely won’t be the case as he’s expected to announce at the Under Armour All-America Game in January.
Looking ahead to the 2023 cycle, Malachi Nelson put Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC in his top seven today. The five-star quarterback will announce his college decision on July 18.
Never say never in the world of recruiting, but I would be floored if the Buckeyes are the pick here. Nelson, to my knowledge, has yet to visit Columbus, and all signs are pointing toward Oklahoma being the choice.
Over the past couple of days, Ohio State also landed in the top seven for Rivals100 tight ends Mac Markway and Mathias Barnwell. Both prospects made their way out to Columbus for unofficial visits in June.
In fact, Barnwell was so impressed by his visit that he told me the Buckeyes are currently his leader. You can read my full update on the former Penn State commit HERE.
I have not been able to catch up with Markway over the phone, but we did exchange a couple of messages earlier today. Here is what Markway, who goes to the same high school (De Smet Jesuit) as 2021 signee Jakailin Johnson, had to say when asked why Ohio State made his list.
“Ohio State made the cut for me because they use tight ends like me,” Markway said. “Another reason is that their offensive coordinator is their tight ends coach as well. Coach [Kevin] Wilson is one of my favorite coaches to talk to. He keeps it real, and I love that.”
Quick note on Domani Jackson
Over a week ago, I saw several tweets relating to Ohio State and USC commit Domani Jackson that made the rounds on Twitter. It was said that Jackson, a five-star cornerback, will take an official visit to Columbus.
I could not get in touch with Jackson, but I did speak with his father, Randy, earlier today. Randy informed me that he does not believe his son is going to end up taking an official to the school. He also told me that him and Jackson have not been in touch with Ryan Day’s staff recently.
This is a short section as I wanted to clarify the situation regarding Jackson and the Buckeyes. It should not come as too much of a surprise as Jackson seems locked in with the Trojans, and Ohio State has commitments from four of the top 22 cornerbacks in the 2022 class.
Carson MacRae's Report
Thoughts on recent comments by Rivals100 DE Omari Abor
The past couple of weeks of recruiting for Ohio State have been nothing less than phenomenal. Ohio State landed pledges from the following players during this span: Terrance Brooks, Kojo Antwi, George Fitzpatrick and, of course, J.T. Tuimoloau.
This week, we take a look at another priority DE target in Omari Abor. Recently, it was discussed in the forums that there was some worry about Abor saying he was concerned with the amount of depth in the Ohio State d-line room.
I wanted to address this here as I have done some digging. I do not have a definitive answer as to if he was serious or not, but I’ll break it down the way I see it.
Abor had a fantastic visit to Ohio State that really seemed to put the Buckeyes out in front of everyone else. In fact, it has been noted that if Abor were to want to commit at this moment, his parents would be more than happy for him to do so.
I personally believe the comments he made were more as a front to cover up the fact that many people see him as an Ohio State lean. It happens so often nowadays that kids' recruitments are blown wide open with the tool of “predictions” by various sites.
After taking a look into this one, I still believe the Buckeyes lead for Abor and this was a simple case of him trying to mislead fans about his recruitment.
To add on, even Tuimoloau has started to recruit Abor on his own via Instagram. If this does not show that there is room for the two of them in the same dressing room, then nothing will. However, I do still believe Abor has Ohio State leading and is still in my class predictions.
Notre Dame pushing hard for Aamil Wagner
With Colorado offensive tackle George Fitzpatrick committing to the Buckeyes this week, I think it’s a good time to address another offensive tackle target. In-state Aamil Wagner, who was one time considered a shoo-in to become a Buckeye, may not be such a lock anymore.
I did some digging to find out where this one is heading, and it appears that Notre Dame is officially a threat. Notre Dame o-line coach, Jeff Quinn, has been relentlessly going after Wagner. I believe the Notre Dame staff has started to change the way they are recruiting and have turned a lot of attention to winning battles in the state of Ohio.
We just saw it with Brennan Vernon committing to the Fighting Irish two weeks ago, and now it looks like they’re moving in on Wagner. With the thought that the Buckeyes may still add Kam Dewberry, I find it very hard to believe Wagner will be the third tackle in the class. Dewberry is definitely the better target in terms of skill set and readiness to be a plug-and-play guy early in his career, but losing out on an in-state top tackle is a tough loss.
I suspect the Buckeyes may try to press late, but I’m now starting to believe that the late offer from the Buckeyes following Wagner’s junior year could have an effect here. If there is one thing Ohio State has on their side, though, it is CJ Hicks, who has been friends with Wagner since they were young kids. As of right now, Wagner is still in my class predictions but I am very close to flipping that FutureCast in favor of the Fighting Irish.
Confidence rising with Rivals100 guard Earnest Greene
Finally, with staying on the trend of offensive linemen, I think it’s a good time for an Earnest Greene update. Greene is Rivals.com’s No. 2 offensive guard and No. 59 player nationally. The 6-foot-5, 330-pounder out of St. John Bosco (California) has been thought of as a similar player to ex-St. John Bosco offensive guard Wyatt Davis.
On countless occasions, the Buckeyes have used the comparison as a recruiting tool in this process. Although not many insiders seem to have a strong grasp on which way this recruitment is heading, it seems to be split between the home state Trojans or the Buckeyes.
During this 2022 cycle the Buckeyes have encountered a lot of recruiting battles with the Trojans as the Ohio State staff has continued their efforts in California. This time, however, I can confidently say I think the Buckeyes are going to win out here.
Similar to my update a couple weekends ago on Dewberry and needing to see a couple more boxes checked before submitting a FutureCast, the same goes here. I’m expecting the timeline to be closer to the end of summer to early September, but I think ultimately the Buckeyes will close out on another blue chip guard out of St. John Bosco.
