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Joseph Hastings' Report
Jaheim Singletary decommits from Ohio State
Carson wrote about Jaheim later on in this Skull Session – prior to Singletary announcing his decommitment – that provides some good context, but I wanted to touch on it at the top since it’s the big news of the day.
After committing to Ohio State on Jan. 2 earlier this year, Singletary tweeted over an hour ago that he was going to reopen his recruitment. Down below is what he had to say about his decommitment.
“First off, I would like to thank the entire Ohio State coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to be a part of the Buckeye family, and believing in my talents,” Singletary wrote. “After talking it over with my family, I have decided to decommit from The Ohio State University and reopen my recruitment. Respect my decision.”
It’s too early to speculate, but it did strike me as a little odd that this did not have the typical quote about the school a recruit is decommitting from still being in contention. That is something I usually expect with these announcements, though I could be overthinking things here.
Today’s news didn’t come as too much of a surprise to Buckeye Nation as there has been a feeling Singletary was going to depart from the class at some point this year. From what I’ve gathered, this doesn’t seem to be a case of Ohio State doing anything wrong to sway Singletary toward reconsidering his options.
From my understanding, it’s pretty simple: Singletary committed very early on in his process with not enough time to fully evaluate the Buckeyes and his recruitment in general. Remember, the five-star cornerback was offered on Nov. 5, 2020, and committed to the program less than two months later.
Also, Singletary did get to check out some schools prior to COVID-19 shutting down visits, but it was not nearly to the extent he was previously hoping for. He took an unofficial to Miami this past weekend, and colleges like Florida and Georgia will likely receive visits from him in the future.
Adam Gorney and I are each going to try to get in touch with Singletary soon, but I imagine the Buckeyes could have a slight chance here. He tweeted official offers from Ohio State and the three schools mentioned above, so I think this is where his focus is at.
Even so, I’m taking the field over tOSU for Singletary right now.
If that happens, then look for Kerry Coombs, Matt Barnes and company to continue their pursuit of a fourth cornerback in this class. Carson shared one name in his report, but I’ll throw out another: Julian Humphrey.
The Florida commit impressed the staff during his visit in early June, and they’ve been talking to him about taking a trip during the fall. An offer has not yet been extended, but that could change with Singletary deciding to explore his options again.
I’ve expected seven defensive backs in this class for the past few months, and I believe the Buckeyes still have a good chance at reaching that number despite Singletary’s decommitment.
Very interesting tidbit on a five-star defensive back
Heading into this week, I was expecting a big Skull Session with tidbits and nuggets to share from Thursday’s cookout. Although there was one development that we will get to later on, this week’s event did seem to stick to its theme of being laid back and allowing visitors to have fun instead of focusing on recruiting.
There was something that did happen a day after the BBQ, however, that we may need to keep a close eye on. Five-star safety Jacoby Matthews, who is the top-ranked player at his position in the 2022 cycle, decommitted from LSU after a three-month commitment.
You may notice after clicking on Matthews’ profile above that he does not have an offer from Ohio State, which makes sense. The Buckeyes typically want to make sure they will have a legitimate shot at a prospect if they offer him, and poaching Matthews from the in-state LSU Tigers is certainly a difficult task.
In this section, I can report that Ryan Day’s staff has yet to reach out to Matthews, but we’ll see if that changes in the near future. I say this as Matthews told me that hearing from the program is “something I’m hoping for,” and that Ohio State would be in consideration for his services if they reach out.
Also, Matthews says he is really interested in teaming up with Jyaire Brown, CJ Hicks and others, saying they can “do something big!” together. I reached out to Hicks, and he told me that the two of them have indeed been communicating with each other a lot recently.
I did hear from a source that Matthews’ interest in the Buckeyes is legitimate, and this isn’t someone who is just hunting for offers. In the end, however, it is going to be up to Barnes and whatever he wants to do, from what I was told.
Ultimately, in my opinion, this is going to come down to how Ohio State feels about fellow Rivals100 target Zion Branch. I say Branch, and not Xavier Nwankpa, as Matthews appears to be more suited for that free safety role in comparison to the “Bullet” position they’re eyeing Nwankpa for. Branch and Matthews are nearly identical in terms of height and weight, both are rangy players, can cover a lot of ground, and are fluid prospects.
If USC gains momentum with Branch and the Buckeyes feel like he’s slipping, then don’t be surprised if an offer arrives and they make a late push for Matthews. If Branch does continue to trend toward Columbus, then Matthews as an option would essentially be off the table, barring a decommitment from Kye Stokes.
Quick update on Quinn Ewers
The recruiting world was somewhat stunned on Wednesday when Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel reported that five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers is potentially considering enrolling at Ohio State this month and skipping his senior season of high school.
For a quick refresher, the motivating factor in Ewers considering an early move to Columbus is in an attempt to capitalize on Name, Image and Likeness while also getting comfortable at the school and learning the playbook. The reason why going to college now is in consideration is because the state of Texas’ University Interscholastic League stated that Ewers profiting from NIL would be in violation of their recent legislation relating to the matter.
This could have been an option Ewers was pondering for some time as he is only one core English class away from graduating high school, enrolling at Ohio State, and being ready for the start of preseason camp on Aug. 3.
Everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for a decision to be made, and I’ll admit that I am, too. As of right now, however, it does not appear as if Ewers has decided what he wants to do. Not only is Ewers’ name not in the Ohio State Student Directory, but his high school head coach, Riley Dodge, texted me the following today.
“Haven’t heard anything,” Dodge told me. “But, as of right now, he’s a Carroll Dragon.”
Southlake Carroll’s head coach and Ewers have a good relationship, so I expect that if a decision was made already, Dodge would have been informed. His father and mother have not yet responded to my requests for an update on the situation, but I think a decision, one way or the other, should be revealed in the next 48 hours.
Is Derrick LeBlanc going to commit soon?
Derrick LeBlanc is someone we’ve talked about a lot recently. And when you’re the No. 38 overall prospect in the 2023 class, have checked out Ohio State three times in two months, and have the program as your leader, BuckeyeGrove will keep talking about you whenever it’s relevant.
This past Thursday, LeBlanc went up to Columbus for yet another visit this summer as he was in attendance for their cookout event. While it did not lead to a wave of prospects committing, at least not until now, the Buckeyes did take a key step with LeBlanc.
The Kissimmee (Florida) prospect told Kevin Noon following his time on campus that he thought about committing to Ohio State during the visit. What I also found interesting was that LeBlanc said he did not know exactly why he didn’t pull the trigger, and that he’s just “holding it back” right now.
I’ll address this in a second.
He also went on to say that there is another school he’s considering, but that they are “nowhere near” the Buckeyes right now. LeBlanc declined to reveal which program this is, but my gut feeling is that it’s Alabama, which he took a visit to after his time in Columbus.
Going back to why LeBlanc may be holding it back, there is a possibility that this could be coming from Ohio State’s side. Larry Johnson is, by all accounts, very impressed with what LeBlanc brings to the table, but the Buckeyes don’t want to get into another situation similar to Singletary’s in which they accept an early commitment from a prospect who could end up wanting to take visits down the road.
I have been told by a source that a commitment could be coming “soon”; it was noted, however, that LeBlanc is going to commit when he feels like it. That could be tomorrow, next week or well after his junior season as it’s up in the air right now.
If he does decide in the near future, then I feel confident in the Buckeyes being the pick for the coveted pass rusher.
Buckeyes trending for top-10 small forward Dillon Mitchell?
It feels like it has been a while since we included some basketball recruiting updates in our Skull Session, so I want to share a small update courtesy of BuckeyeGrove basketball analyst Jake Spegal.
Earlier this week, someone created a fake Dillon Mitchell account and tweeted that he had committed to Ohio State. It was a well-made commitment video, but it was not from Mitchell himself.
Spegal is being told, however, that an edit has been made for Mitchell, but he has not yet officially announced his commitment and where he’ll be heading. With a decision seemingly around the corner, that led to Spegal submitting a FutureCast on Mitchell’s Rivals.com profile in favor of the Buckeyes.
This is what Spegal said to me when explaining why he believes Chris Holtmann’s program will win out for Mitchell.
“He has family ties in Ohio,” Spegal said. “Visited in June and also plays AAU for E1T1 EYBL, same team as 2022 commit Bruce Thornton. He became one of the hottest prospects in America at the Peach Jam over the last few weeks. Peach Jam is EYBL’s finals and EYBL is Nike’s AAU circuit, their most popular one.”
Mitchell, who was offered by the staff back in late April, checks in as the No. 31 overall prospect in the 2022 class and the 10th-ranked small forward.
Carson MacRae’s Report
Expecting a pair of Rivals250 OTs to commit elsewhere tomorrow
It feels like there has not been a whole ton of news circulating in terms of recruitments as of late but, as always, Joseph and I have been digging to make sure we can give you guys the goods every weekend.
First off, I want to touch on a pretty big target at the o-line position. Jaylen Early who is a teammate of Omari Abor’s at Duncanville. Early is set to make his commitment tomorrow at 12:00 CDT and 1:00 ET.
Early has been one of the higher priorities for Greg Studrawa and the Buckeyes staff. However, he has not been labeled as one of their top guys on the board at the OT spot. Guys like Kam Dewberry and Aamil Wagner have definitely been prioritized more than he has, and Early admitted to me last month he was feeling that in our limited messages to each other.
I’m sure you can see where I am going with this one but tomorrow when he makes his announcement, it’s going to be in favor of Florida State. I asked a source who I speak to often down in Tallahassee his thoughts on this one going Florida State’s way, and he jokingly responded “FSU is 2-0 in OL recruiting against OSU”.
I brought this up because I did want to note that with both guys, Aliou Bah and Jaylen Early, who the Buckeyes were both in on, the staff just had higher targets on the board. Bah was a guy who wanted to commit and the staff was not ready to take him, while Early was being seen as the third option still on the board.
This announcement should not feel like a loss tomorrow for Buckeye fans, rather a positive sign as to how the staff feels about their chances with guys like Dewberry and Earnest Greene.
I still have both of those guys joining this class, and expect nothing to change there at this point.
With Addision Nichols committing tomorrow, also expect Ohio State not to win out here. The Tennessee staff feels very confident in their position and I seem to feel the same.
The Buckeyes have played their cards right but unfortunately for the staff, it’s not going to be enough here as Nichols is very big on early playing time, which is going to be a lot tougher in Ohio State than at UT. This one is a bit of tough one to swallow for the staff but, as I digress, Dewberry and Green are still the top options here.
Expect this one to be all Vols tomorrow.
Little more context on Jaheim Singletary’s decommitment, potential replacement
*Most of the following section was written prior to Singletary’s decommitment*
The next guy I wanted to touch on is Jaheim Singletary who tweeted out today “Announcement coming soon!!! Maybe today.”
The Buckeyes have been in a good place all along with Singletary from what I’ve gathered but, after speaking with both my source in Georgia and my one in Miami, they both feel like a decommitment is coming, which is eventually what happened.
Both of those two programs staffs’ feel very confident in their chances to land him and it’s hard at this point to not believe them. Singletary is coming off a weekend long visit to Miami where he was able to meet lots of their recruits and current players.
Those on the roster seemed to play a major impact there and him being from the Jacksonville area, they really pushed “the best players from Florida stay in the state of Florida” message on him.
Now, on the other end of it, Georgia has been rabidly trying to pursue Singletary more than any other program. Ohio State has definitely felt Georgia’s presence in this recruitment and I know from my source there that he thinks this one still ends up with Singletary being in Athens.
Regardless of where it is, I think the decommitment is coming and I do not think the Buckeyes will be able to hold on.
Now, finally, let’s talk about what happens if Singletary does decommit. I actually jumped ahead of the eight ball just in case that does play out as I expect. What happens from there?
Well one name that the Buckeyes have not stayed away from during this whole process – even once they got the surprise commitment from Terrance Brooks – was Ephesians Prysock.
The biggest reason they have not laid off Prysock was because they were feeling the heat from Kirby’s staff during this whole recruitment. Another major factor was Prysock comes at a staggering 6-foot-3, 175-pounds as listed by Rivals.com but is the most fluid 6-foot-3 corner you’ll ever see.
The Mission Hills (California) product is exactly what Kerry Coombs looks for in his long athletic CBs. Prysock being a Rivals250 prospect from California has made the Buckeyes hungry for his services for a while now.
Ryan Day realizes the benefits of building on that pipeline to California and Prysock would be a great fit in the secondary if he decides to go with the Buckeyes.
There is still lots of work to be done on that one, but expect that name to pop up a lot more if a Jaheim Singletary decommitment comes. The big player there right now is Tennessee and if you ask the Ohio State staff how they feel going against the Vols for a top CB target, I think you’ll like their answer there.
I’ll keep an eye on this one as always but just remember, “next man up.”
