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Oh it's very possible.
Ohio State is now very much in the driver's seat for not one, but two class of 2021 Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joe's Prep stars. We've talked about Kyle McCord quite a bit already this weekend. I put in a prediction for Kyle to Ohio State on Saturday after speaking with several people that believe this is close to happening.
I then followed up with Kyle and his father, Derek, as they drove to Cincinnati to catch their flight home and they certainly didn't do anything to talk me out of that prediction. We posted a story on Saturday with comments from Derek as this was an important visit for Kyle's parents who weren't along on the first visit.
Kyle had some words of his own on the Buckeyes.
"I really like where Ohio State stands right now," he said. "I am not ready to make a decision at this point as I would like to at least take a few more visits, but Ohio State is definitely in a good position."
The middle part is the key here. He wants to take a few more visits. Stanford and Clemson have been tossed out to me as possible schools that could upset the apple cart. But with where things stand right now, I think it would take a lot to pull McCord away from Ohio State and I think things are far along enough where a decision could be made by the end of June. We could be talking about just weeks to go here, not months or a year plus.
But there is another, of course, and that is his partner in crime, big-time wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
I won't bore you with a bunch of words. Just read this comment Marvin gave me today.
"They are ahead by a large margin at this point," Harrison Jr. told me, referring to the Buckeyes. "It would take a lot for a college to catch up to them."
I've now got a prediction in for Marvin to Ohio State as well. I could absolutely see this happening sooner rather than later with these two. I'll have more from Marvin in the morning.
Buckeyes make big impression on LV
Another prospect that I felt Ohio State did a great job with this weekend was four-star class of 2020 wide receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton. The California star has been talking this visit up to me for a few months now and followed through by spending nearly four days in Columbus (arrived on Thursday night, flew back today).
I'm going to preach a little caution here on a couple of fronts. I think Oregon and USC are very serious players for LV and USC was kind of the childhood dream school and since offering a little late, have seemed to pick up some momentum there lately. So let's just see how excited LV still is about Ohio State after he flies all the way back to California and gets reindoctrinated by the Trojans and Ducks.
There is also the numbers game at wide receiver. My belief is that they would take Bunkley-Shelton as things stand today. I think there would need to be a discussion among the staff about it, but I think that is where things would be leaning pre-discussion. It's a more fluid situation than say Julian Fleming, who could commit on the very last day of the cycle regardless of numbers, so it's not quite as iron clad.
But that being said, they crushed this visit and LV loved the city of Columbus. We chatted quite a bit after my interview with him about the food places he went and just some of the stuff he was able to do and he seemed genuinely surprised at how much he loved the campus and city, which is a big deal when you're talking about these California guys as that's just a totally different type of vibe out there than in a Midwest city.
Big first step here for sure and LV is absolutely adamant that he'll make either another unofficial visit later down the road or if a decision time frame is sped up, then it will be an official. The visit went as well for the Buckeyes as it realistically could have.
DC Notes
I spent the day in our nation's capital as the Rivals Camp Series made its stop in Washington, DC (well, technically in Northern Virginia). There were several prime targets for the Buckeyes on hand today and a couple of really impressive performances. Will just sort of go down the line here with some notes from the day.
- Don't worry about Bryan Bresee on April 23rd. Not going to be Ohio State. Don't think it's much of a mystery where Bryan is going at this point. He's a tremendous player and kid and the Buckeyes would have loved to have landed him, but this one isn't going to go their way.
- Five-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett looked very good, as expected. Just a really explosive kid, tremendous feet, can just stop and start on a dime. Hard to separate fact from fiction with Rakim because he definitely enjoys the social media game. He did tell me today that he felt things have "sparked" recently with Ohio State and plans to get back there soon either in an unofficial or official capacity, but probably not before the middle of May or so. LSU and Tennessee will get official visits and the plan is to announce before his senior season.
Mom is a big factor here and he told me he hasn't been going with her on the unofficial visits because he doesn't want to drag her to places that he's not sure if he likes yet. Which means she is going to go on the officials and that is going to be big for Ohio State, to sell her on the program. The other programs involved face the same challenge here as well so everyone is kind of on even footing in that regard.
- 2021 defensive back Tony Grimes out the Virginia Beach area was OUTSTANDING today. Recently offered by the Buckeyes. Got beat one time in red zone, but was dominant other than that single rep. Love his attitude too, very competitive kid, real cornerback mentality. High on the Buckeyes early on but that will be a national battle so too early to read too much into that. Plans to visit in early May but does not have the exact date(s) locked in yet.
- Buckeyes are definitely a contender for four-star linebacker Mitchell Melton and I liked what I saw out of him today. He certainly passes the look test, at least 6-3, if not 6-4 and long. Can run too. Definitely easy to see why he's one of the top guys at linebacker for Al Washington and the Buckeyes.
- Four-star offensive tackle Anton Harrison told me he plans to take official visits to both Oklahoma and Ohio State and is still figuring out the other three schools. Harrison has talked a very big game with Ohio State, but has not yet made it campus in any capacity so let's kind of wait and see how this goes, but Anton has been talking up OSU for a year now so it's at least worth paying attention to.
I will have tons more content, interviews, and video from this camp coming starting on Monday morning.
