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Recent DE offer Justus Boone says Ohio State will receive an official visit from him
Just under a couple of weeks ago, Florida Gators defensive end commit Justus Boone reeled in an offer from the Buckeyes. It was difficult to get in touch with him as he changed phone numbers since our previous conversation and closed his DMs on Twitter. Finally, I was able to get in touch with Boone last night and discuss what this offer means for him in his recruitment.
At the start of our conversation, Boone referred to this offer as a “big deal,” which is not an understatement. Boone has been committed to Florida since February, but he isn’t a household name in this cycle. A powerhouse program like Ohio State recognizing him meant a lot to Boone.
When speaking with Larry Johnson a couple of weeks ago, the Buckeyes’ d-line coach said they most definitely want Boone in Columbus at the next level. Johnson also informed him about their system and how they would utilize Boone.
This is what Boone had to say when talking about Johnson and how he develops players in college.
“It is something to pay attention to,” Boone said of Johnson’s resume. “He does have a lot of d-linemen in the league as of right now. The ones that he has in the league, I consider to be great players in the NFL.
“His reputation is good. The system he has is good. Obviously, it does work.”
The most important aspect of this conversation, however, was Boone saying that Ohio State will indeed receive an official visit from him. The other schools that will host Boone for an OV this fall, assuming officials are allowed, are going to be Arizona State, Florida and South Carolina.
I found this offer to be somewhat intriguing. If you recall, I reported a few weeks ago that borderline five-star UF commit Tyreak Sapp did not receive an official offer from Ohio State, despite the school being in his top five. Boone is a really good prospect and worthy of consideration for the Rivals250, but I’m surprised Johnson and the staff would prioritize Boone over Sapp.
Reading the tea leaves here, it appears as if they feel Boone, who is halfway closer to Columbus than Sapp is, would be the most likely Florida pledge to flip. I’ve been told the Gators feel good about each of the defensive linemen they have committed, but this one can get interesting if official visits are allowed this fall.
Quick update on Tywone Malone
I received a couple of questions as a pair of Rivals recruiting analysts, Josh McCuistion and Mike Farrell, submitted FutureCast predictions in favor of Ohio State for Malone this week.
It doesn’t appear as if there were any new and/or significant developments, however, when it comes to the Buckeyes’ pursuit of the top-50 overall senior. This is more of a case of reading the room and Ohio State still being in a good spot to land Malone.
He is obviously a take for the Buckeyes and will be as long as he wants in in the class, but I was told by a source close to Malone’s recruitment that there have been no changes with him at this time. Ohio State continues to be viewed as the leader here and even though he is strongly considering a college career in baseball, the opportunities on the gridiron in Columbus are very appealing to him.
Still confident in Ohio State landing Christian
Two weeks ago, I received word that Ohio State was going to land Peach State tight end Bennett Christian. Instead of being the first one to submit a FutureCast in favor of the Buckeyes before anyone else did, I sat on my hands because I wanted to see how his trip to Rocky Top went.
Well, after visits to Columbus and Knoxville have been taken, I am even more sure of my prediction that Ryan Day’s program will come out on top for Christian this Tuesday.
I recently heard that a major reason why the Buckeyes are favorited to reel in a commitment from Christian next week is due to how much they have prioritized him. Even though his father played for the Tennessee Volunteers, the program just hasn’t been after him as much as Ohio State has.
Kudos to Kevin Wilson specifically with this. I wasn’t told this directly, but I imagine that him taking time out of his day to FaceTime Christian while he was in Columbus meant a lot to the top-15 tight end in the Class of 2022.
I’ve been told that his game isn’t perceived to work well in the SEC once he gets to college. I did hear, however, that Christian is viewed as somewhat of an extended tackle with good hands; that’s a pretty interesting evaluation because one would have to wonder if he could eventually transition to being an offensive lineman for the Buckeyes down the line if he commits to the program. That wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever.
“Big, strong, excellent blocker, strong hands,” I was told when asked about Christian’s game. “Needs to work on speed and explosiveness.”
The final part about this section will be brief as I talked about it in last week’s Skull Session. Assuming Christian commits to Ohio State on Sept. 1, then I’m going to hit up Rivals250 TE Benjamin Gosnell and see if it impacts his recruitment.
He recently told me that the Buckeyes are his leader, though not by a wide margin, and I heard that a commitment could be coming soon. Ohio State is expected to take a pair of tight ends in next year’s class, and Christian and Gosnell would give the staff a good combination of blocking and receiving at the position.
Scratch a 2021 DB off the board
Unless something significant develops from now until signing day, I believe this will be the last time that we mention Jaylin Davies in this cycle.
Davies, at one time viewed as an Ohio State lean, committed to the Oregon Ducks back on June 19. Even with his pledge intact, Davies continued communication with Kerry Coombs and the rest of the Buckeyes’ staff for several weeks after his announcement.
Yesterday, I reached out to a source close to Davies’ recruitment, and was told that he is no longer in touch with the staff. When asked if this was due to the Rivals100 cornerback being locked in with the Ducks, the reply was, “No.”
The source went on to say that Jordan Hancock teaming up with the Buckeyes last month is what led to the program dropping communication with him. They did say that leading up to Hancock’s decision, Ohio State was still recruiting Davies.
What this says to me is that the Buckeyes are definitely done recruiting pure cornerbacks in the 2021 cycle. Remember, they are still attempting to poach top-five safety Derrick Davis out of Pennsylvania, so Coombs is not entirely finished with pursuing defensive backs.
Davies is a solid cornerback prospect, but this is just sometimes how the recruiting process works as a result of spots filing up at a position.
Chris Holtmann’s staff offers the first prospect of the 2023 class
Rayvon Griffith is the latest high school basketball recruit to reel in an offer from Ohio State. From what we’ve been tracking, this is the first time the Buckeyes have offered a player who is a member of the Class of 2023.
This is certainly a big offer for Griffith, who hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, and attends Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School. Other schools in the mix for his services at this time are Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Kent State and Oklahoma State.
I usually don’t consider early offers like this as too significant, but this one could be viewed as an exception. The Buckeyes dipping into his recruitment well before numerous powerhouse programs have had a chance to is a key step. Prospects, especially in-state ones, value loyalty and want a coaching staff to be as committed to them as they are to the school, so early offers could be very important.
We’ll hopefully catch up with Griffith soon, but here is what BuckeyeGrove Basketball Analyst Jake Spegalhad to say about the sophomore’s game.
“Super athletic wing, great defender, hustles his butt off 24/7,” Spegal said. “Still a little raw on offense, but is continuing to improve as a shooter and is already a solid finisher. Top-35 overall in the country type of potential.”
Before we get a story up on Griffith, you can enjoy his 2019 highlight reel HERE.
Looking ahead
As I mentioned above, Sept. 1 will be an important day as Ohio State will get an opportunity to add the sixth member to their 2022 class. Tuesday also presents the chance for them to label which juniors are of the highest priority for them in next year’s cycle.
Sept. 1 marks the first day that college coaches can start initiating contact with members of the Class of 2022. If you follow recruits on Twitter, you’ll notice that this is a crucial step in their recruitments. They may have a lot of offers on the table, but this gives them a chance to gauge which schools are the most interested in them.
Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove as we are going to be reaching out to dozens of juniors and will have updates on them over the next week or so.
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