What's the Deal?
Spent some time this morning at Emerald High School in Greenwood, South Carolina with Ohio State tight end target Luke Deal. Deal has an unofficial top six of Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and as we've talked about a couple of times, he has a decision date set for May 25th.
In talking to Luke today both on and off the record, he may not seem one-hundred percent ready to decide, but he does seem to be close enough to being comfortable with holding to that May 25th date. He has told me in the past that he'll move it if he feels he needs to but I didn't get the sense that he felt he would have to push it back in talking to him today.
I posted recently that the sentiment that Luke was a Clemson lock was starting to fade a little bit and that he was serious about some of the other schools on his list. That was reinforced to me today. While I still believe Clemson is the "safe" pick here, it makes the most sense in some ways, I do think a few of the other schools have his attention.
I believe his two best head-coaching relationships at this point are with Gus Malzahn and Urban Meyer. I also believe he is serious about Notre Dame's combination of athletics and academics and the success that program has had recently at the tight end position. I just don't see N.C. State here and while I have had people tell me they think Michigan is a factor, Michigan just didn't come up much today.
But Clemson was the childhood favorite. It's only about an hour down the road. He'll be up there Thursday for his sister's graduation from the university. There are a lot of things that favor Clemson here. Sometimes the home school just wins out no matter what, but I don't get the sense that Clemson has done the best job of recruiting Luke.
If I had to pick a team that I thought had the best chance to upset Clemson, I think I would pick Auburn, just the vibe I got this morning. I think Ohio State may very well be next with Notre Dame in play as well. Kevin Wilson is supposed to come by the school in the next week to check on Luke. A tough pull here, but not an impossible one and Ohio State is still fighting.
Burrell high on the Buckeyes
Our second stop today was catching the first half of North Gwinnett High School's practice. North Gwinnett is located just northeast of Atlanta (Ga.) and is home to four-star cornerback Warren Burrell.
Burrell visited Ohio State this past fall for the Michigan State game and should be back on campus this summer. Whether or not that will be an unofficial visit or an official visit is yet to be determined but Burrell is highly interested in the Buckeyes. He is getting ready in the next couple of weeks to whittle his list of 30+ offers down to about five schools and it would be a huge surprise if Ohio State didn't make the cut.
Cornerback recruiting is going a little bit slow right now for the Buckeyes. Part of that is that I think Ohio State is having a hard time separating its targets, a lot of guys who are close in ability. Another part of this equation is that they have turned over their cornerbacks coach transitioning from Kerry Coombs to Taver Johnson. This Spring Evaluation Period will be important to shaping the board as Johnson may view certain kids differently than Coombs did, and you don't just want to blindly continue off Coombs' evaluations with a new position coach in charge.
So whether or not Burrell is a take is probably still up in the air, but he is certainly good enough that the Buckeyes have kept in constant communication. I'll have an evaluation of Warren with some practice footage from today which I plan to run this week, but I liked what I saw and prefer him to some of the other cornerback targets.
Should Ohio State keep pushing, I think they'll have an excellent chance here. Alabama, Penn State, and Tennessee seem to be three other programs with a real shot here. As things stand today, it could be argued that Tennessee is the safe pick just because it's unclear how hard Alabama and Ohio State will push and Tennessee is definitely pushing under new head coach Jeremy Pruitt. But this is a battle Ohio State can win.
Reading Miller
I really enjoyed our time with Rivals100 offensive lineman Harry Miller this evening and Kevin's video is now on the front page for everyone to enjoy. Harry loves football and is great at it, but there are so many more layers to him. He is extremely passionate about his charity work and is as competitive in the classroom as he is on the football field as he is on pace to be the valedictorian of his class.
Miller reiterated what we've been reporting recently, that he would like to make a decision before his senior season starts. He does not currently have any further visits planned so whether he commits somewhere next week or in August is pretty much anyone's guess at this point, but it certainly does not look like this will drag past the summer.
As I have said before, I feel very good about Ohio State's chances right now. I thought how he talked about Ohio State and Stanford was very interesting. Stanford unquestionably has his attention and the academic reputation there speaks for itself, but I found it interesting how he discussed the relationships he has at the two schools.
With Ohio State it seemed to be much more about the relationship he already HAS with the Buckeye players and coaches and with Stanford it was more about how he was in the process of building those relationships. Already built vs. currently building. That was kind of my take away in trying to put a read on him today. Really think Ohio State is in the driver's seat right now.
Miller is getting closer with Steele Chambers in recent months which should only help Ohio State's chances here. Ultimately, he's not going to make a decision based on someone else, but it's another piece of the puzzle that helps the Buckeyes. Miller said he first played against Chambers in like third grade but it has only been more recently where the two have become good friends.
More on Mertz
In non-Southern Swing related news. Four-star quarterback Graham Mertz was on campus today making an unofficial visit. Adam Friedman posted a story in advance of the visit and we'll be working to get more from Mertz post-visit, though as a committed prospect you never know how talkative a kid is going to be about visits to other schools.
What I can say is that I think this one is a little bit different than Mathis. I still view Mathis as more of a situation where Ohio State is covering its bases and protecting itself in the event that Grant Gunnell would go elsewhere.
With Mertz, this was one of Ohio State's top early targets and still a guy I think they really like, perhaps more than any other QB they have recruited in this class. The issue has been that Mertz committed very early to Wisconsin and Ohio State has struggled to gain a lot of traction with him since that time. In fact, it could be argued that Ohio State isn't even the biggest threat to Wisconsin, Notre Dame might hold that distinction. So It has been tough sledding there and Ohio State while not totally moving on, has obviously had to focus energy on other targets. So in that sense, Mertz would present more danger to Gunnell's status than Mathis. I don't claim to know for sure what Ohio State would do if Mathis tried to commit, but if Mertz tried to flip I am highly confident in saying they would accept it.
Getting him on campus was obviously extremely important and we'll be keeping a close eye on the aftermath of this surprise visit, but again I think this one is a little more serious on OSU's end than the Mathis situation, at least for right now.
Spent some time this morning at Emerald High School in Greenwood, South Carolina with Ohio State tight end target Luke Deal. Deal has an unofficial top six of Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and as we've talked about a couple of times, he has a decision date set for May 25th.
In talking to Luke today both on and off the record, he may not seem one-hundred percent ready to decide, but he does seem to be close enough to being comfortable with holding to that May 25th date. He has told me in the past that he'll move it if he feels he needs to but I didn't get the sense that he felt he would have to push it back in talking to him today.
I posted recently that the sentiment that Luke was a Clemson lock was starting to fade a little bit and that he was serious about some of the other schools on his list. That was reinforced to me today. While I still believe Clemson is the "safe" pick here, it makes the most sense in some ways, I do think a few of the other schools have his attention.
I believe his two best head-coaching relationships at this point are with Gus Malzahn and Urban Meyer. I also believe he is serious about Notre Dame's combination of athletics and academics and the success that program has had recently at the tight end position. I just don't see N.C. State here and while I have had people tell me they think Michigan is a factor, Michigan just didn't come up much today.
But Clemson was the childhood favorite. It's only about an hour down the road. He'll be up there Thursday for his sister's graduation from the university. There are a lot of things that favor Clemson here. Sometimes the home school just wins out no matter what, but I don't get the sense that Clemson has done the best job of recruiting Luke.
If I had to pick a team that I thought had the best chance to upset Clemson, I think I would pick Auburn, just the vibe I got this morning. I think Ohio State may very well be next with Notre Dame in play as well. Kevin Wilson is supposed to come by the school in the next week to check on Luke. A tough pull here, but not an impossible one and Ohio State is still fighting.
Burrell high on the Buckeyes
Our second stop today was catching the first half of North Gwinnett High School's practice. North Gwinnett is located just northeast of Atlanta (Ga.) and is home to four-star cornerback Warren Burrell.
Burrell visited Ohio State this past fall for the Michigan State game and should be back on campus this summer. Whether or not that will be an unofficial visit or an official visit is yet to be determined but Burrell is highly interested in the Buckeyes. He is getting ready in the next couple of weeks to whittle his list of 30+ offers down to about five schools and it would be a huge surprise if Ohio State didn't make the cut.
Cornerback recruiting is going a little bit slow right now for the Buckeyes. Part of that is that I think Ohio State is having a hard time separating its targets, a lot of guys who are close in ability. Another part of this equation is that they have turned over their cornerbacks coach transitioning from Kerry Coombs to Taver Johnson. This Spring Evaluation Period will be important to shaping the board as Johnson may view certain kids differently than Coombs did, and you don't just want to blindly continue off Coombs' evaluations with a new position coach in charge.
So whether or not Burrell is a take is probably still up in the air, but he is certainly good enough that the Buckeyes have kept in constant communication. I'll have an evaluation of Warren with some practice footage from today which I plan to run this week, but I liked what I saw and prefer him to some of the other cornerback targets.
Should Ohio State keep pushing, I think they'll have an excellent chance here. Alabama, Penn State, and Tennessee seem to be three other programs with a real shot here. As things stand today, it could be argued that Tennessee is the safe pick just because it's unclear how hard Alabama and Ohio State will push and Tennessee is definitely pushing under new head coach Jeremy Pruitt. But this is a battle Ohio State can win.
Reading Miller
I really enjoyed our time with Rivals100 offensive lineman Harry Miller this evening and Kevin's video is now on the front page for everyone to enjoy. Harry loves football and is great at it, but there are so many more layers to him. He is extremely passionate about his charity work and is as competitive in the classroom as he is on the football field as he is on pace to be the valedictorian of his class.
Miller reiterated what we've been reporting recently, that he would like to make a decision before his senior season starts. He does not currently have any further visits planned so whether he commits somewhere next week or in August is pretty much anyone's guess at this point, but it certainly does not look like this will drag past the summer.
As I have said before, I feel very good about Ohio State's chances right now. I thought how he talked about Ohio State and Stanford was very interesting. Stanford unquestionably has his attention and the academic reputation there speaks for itself, but I found it interesting how he discussed the relationships he has at the two schools.
With Ohio State it seemed to be much more about the relationship he already HAS with the Buckeye players and coaches and with Stanford it was more about how he was in the process of building those relationships. Already built vs. currently building. That was kind of my take away in trying to put a read on him today. Really think Ohio State is in the driver's seat right now.
Miller is getting closer with Steele Chambers in recent months which should only help Ohio State's chances here. Ultimately, he's not going to make a decision based on someone else, but it's another piece of the puzzle that helps the Buckeyes. Miller said he first played against Chambers in like third grade but it has only been more recently where the two have become good friends.
More on Mertz
In non-Southern Swing related news. Four-star quarterback Graham Mertz was on campus today making an unofficial visit. Adam Friedman posted a story in advance of the visit and we'll be working to get more from Mertz post-visit, though as a committed prospect you never know how talkative a kid is going to be about visits to other schools.
What I can say is that I think this one is a little bit different than Mathis. I still view Mathis as more of a situation where Ohio State is covering its bases and protecting itself in the event that Grant Gunnell would go elsewhere.
With Mertz, this was one of Ohio State's top early targets and still a guy I think they really like, perhaps more than any other QB they have recruited in this class. The issue has been that Mertz committed very early to Wisconsin and Ohio State has struggled to gain a lot of traction with him since that time. In fact, it could be argued that Ohio State isn't even the biggest threat to Wisconsin, Notre Dame might hold that distinction. So It has been tough sledding there and Ohio State while not totally moving on, has obviously had to focus energy on other targets. So in that sense, Mertz would present more danger to Gunnell's status than Mathis. I don't claim to know for sure what Ohio State would do if Mathis tried to commit, but if Mertz tried to flip I am highly confident in saying they would accept it.
Getting him on campus was obviously extremely important and we'll be keeping a close eye on the aftermath of this surprise visit, but again I think this one is a little more serious on OSU's end than the Mathis situation, at least for right now.
