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Welcome back for another edition of “A-Deck” at BuckeyeGrove.com, presented by Infinit Nutrition, where I’ll bring you thoughts, what I’m hearing, inside scoop, tidbits, and more for Ohio State recruiting and team coverage, every Wednesday.
Last week’s A-Deck provided the latest on Cameron Martinez and gave you a ton of scoop on Ohio State’s top 2021 targets.
This week, I give the latest on a new running back target, share the latest on a top defensive tackle prospect, and tell a story of the Buckeyes and Michigan on the trail.
NEW RUNNING BACK ON THE BOARD FOR BUCKEYES
Most of Ohio State’s running back search in 2021 has focused on names like Donovan Edwards, Corey Kiner, Cody Brown, Lovasea Carroll, Camar Wheaton, Evan Pryor, and Will Shipley.
But the Buckeyes aren’t limiting their options to just that group. In fact, they extended a scholarship this week to Rosenberg (Tx.) Lamar Consolidated’s Brandon Campbell, who announced the news on Twitter.
I caught up with the 5-foot-11, 194-pound Campbell, ranked as a 4-star and 194th overall (13th RB), who seems to have legitimate interest in the Scarlet and Gray upon receiving the offer.
“The offer means a lot,” Campbell said. “I would say Coach [Tony] Alford did it the right way. We have a really good relationship. I’ll get up there sooner rather than later. I’ve already started to try to plan to get up there for a spring practice.”
There is some buzz that Texas may be hard to beat here, but Campbell is saying Ohio State is currently in good standing in his mind.
“They are most definitely very high on my list,” he shared. “They are in a very good place with me currently.”
Campbell said he’s “not sure yet” as to who else is high on his list with Ohio State, saying he will start the process of narrowing things down soon, as he plans to enroll early at whatever program he chooses.
The potential spring visit will be huge, as it shows genuine interest from Campbell, gives him a chance to see Ohio State for the first time, and gives the staff a chance to get to know him better and determine how he could fit with them and how high exactly he’ll be on their board.
LATEST ON MALONE
As some of you may know, I also cover recruiting for the Rutgers site at Rivals and had a chance to speak with Top 50 prospect, Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic 2021 DT Tywone Malone, following his visit to RU last weekend.
After we spoke about Rutgers (article here), I asked him a bit about his recruiting in general and Ohio State:
· He’s in frequent contact with the Buckeyes, both with Ryan Day and Larry Johnson
· Ohio State has said he can play baseball there if he ends up picking them (he is a star first baseman who wants to play both in college)
· He wouldn’t say more than “they’re up there” in regard to Ohio State on his current list, but also said “I don’t really know yet” when asked what other schools are “up there”
· A decision isn’t expected for a while, likely at the end of his senior season
· Most visits probably won’t happen until after his baseball season is over, but he mentioned Ohio State as somewhere he’d like to get back to when that happens (he was at OSU for the Penn State game this past season)
Malone isn’t a big talker, but from everything I gather, I would say Ohio State is the leader as of today. That said, there is a long way to go, and plenty of big-time players in this game, so keeping that lead will certainly be a challenge. I believe the Buckeyes are doing everything they need to right now to win this one, but a decision isn’t likely coming until December (as of today’s plans), so there is almost a year until this one ends.
LARRY JOHNSON, JIM HARBAUGH, AND DON BROWN WALK INTO A BAR
OK, maybe they didn’t walk into a bar, but they did walk into a high school.
Not a ton of scoop on this item, but I did want to share a funny story that happened late last week when both Ohio State and Michigan were out on the road recruiting.
Larry Johnson was in Brooklyn at Eramus Hall, a scheduled visit with head coach Danny Landberg, to check on a number of his prospects, but mainly 2021 4-star defensive end Jahzion Harris, who holds an offer from the Buckeyes.
As Johnson was in Landberg’s office, Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown walked into Erasmus Hall, unannounced (this isn’t all that uncommon), as they were in the area recruiting. Harbaugh and Brown registered and were directed to Landberg’s office, where LJ was just sitting there finishing up with the Dutchmen head coach.
Safe to say, those on hand said it was an “extremely awkward situation” seeing the two parties be surprised to see each other at the school, not to mention the surprise of the E-Hall staff and the feeling they had from this accidental bump in.
Of course, all parties were professional and exchanged courtesies, but thought that was a funny “behind-the-scenes” story from the trail to share with you all.
