Buckeyes in the lead for Puckett?
After meeting with Rivals250 athlete Zion Puckett on Tuesday morning, I would absolutely have Ohio State in the driver's seat for the four-star athlete out of Griffin (Ga.) Spalding High. Puckett and his mother were both blown away by their spring visit to Columbus and Ohio State has probably been recruiting him the hardest of any school in recent months. Puckett seems very intrigued by the balance of football and post-football opportunities that Ohio State has to offer.
BUT, there is a long way to go. In addition to Stanford, which may be a long shot as I'll dive into below, the Buckeyes will be fending off about half a dozen programs from SEC country along with Clemson. Puckett plans to take his official visits and does not appear to be in any rush to decide. With what looks to be a solid six months left in this recruitment and geography working against Ohio State, that certainly is going to leave some opportunities for the rest of the pack to make up ground.
The reason I don't think Stanford works out is because Puckett wants to enroll and sign early. Stanford has not historically allowed guys to enroll early and generally players have to wait until pretty late in the process to learn their fate on admissions. I think this will be a deal-breaker here.
The school that right now seems to have Puckett's attention nearly as much as Ohio State is Alabama. That is who I would have running second right now if I were handicapping this race. From there, it's a pack of Southern programs; Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, among others are all vying for his services. Georgia has been notably absent from the discussion here so we'll have to see if anything picks up there over the summer.
It would definitely benefit Ohio State to get Zion back on campus at some point this summer, perhaps around Friday Night Lights to help keep some of that momentum heading into official visits in the fall.
But with Zion having family in the Central Ohio area, I do think the geography is less of a factor here than it might be otherwise. He really just kind of lit up when talking about Ohio State so this is one they could win and I believe he's a guy they'll make room for in this class.
Long way to go with Manuel
We caught up with five-star class of 2020 Ocala (Fla.) wide receiver Leonard Manuel after practice on Tuesday evening. Leonard has already made a decommitment from Miami, so this one has the makings of a wild Florida recruitment.
At this point, there isn't much value in handicapping this one. Ohio State tossed its hat into the ring recently, Leonard has talked with Zach Smith and has interest in Ohio State. If he makes the summer unofficial visit he is talking about making, you can put Ohio State in the discussion at that point.
But there are more than a dozen teams involved right now. I think anyone who thinks they know where Leonard is going to end up right now is probably fooling themselves. With more than 18 months to go, Leonard is already talking about how hard it is to not just commit on the visits he takes because he enjoys this stuff so much. He loves going and meeting the coaches and players, watching games or practices and just hanging around these programs so I expect a wild ride here.
He is a supremely talented football prospect though. Guys that big aren't supposed to be that sudden. He makes cuts that little slot receivers make, not 6'5 split ends. He really is a freak of nature in some of the things he is able to do athletically and because of that, if you're Ohio State you have to at least try here no matter how crazy this one might get.
Mom is also a heavy influence here. Leonard decommitted after being told it was too early for him to be sure of where he wanted to go and that he needed to experience a little more of what is out there. Winning mom is going to ultimately be very important when this one gets down to crunch time as that will be the opinion that Leonard values the most in all of this.
After meeting with Rivals250 athlete Zion Puckett on Tuesday morning, I would absolutely have Ohio State in the driver's seat for the four-star athlete out of Griffin (Ga.) Spalding High. Puckett and his mother were both blown away by their spring visit to Columbus and Ohio State has probably been recruiting him the hardest of any school in recent months. Puckett seems very intrigued by the balance of football and post-football opportunities that Ohio State has to offer.
BUT, there is a long way to go. In addition to Stanford, which may be a long shot as I'll dive into below, the Buckeyes will be fending off about half a dozen programs from SEC country along with Clemson. Puckett plans to take his official visits and does not appear to be in any rush to decide. With what looks to be a solid six months left in this recruitment and geography working against Ohio State, that certainly is going to leave some opportunities for the rest of the pack to make up ground.
The reason I don't think Stanford works out is because Puckett wants to enroll and sign early. Stanford has not historically allowed guys to enroll early and generally players have to wait until pretty late in the process to learn their fate on admissions. I think this will be a deal-breaker here.
The school that right now seems to have Puckett's attention nearly as much as Ohio State is Alabama. That is who I would have running second right now if I were handicapping this race. From there, it's a pack of Southern programs; Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, among others are all vying for his services. Georgia has been notably absent from the discussion here so we'll have to see if anything picks up there over the summer.
It would definitely benefit Ohio State to get Zion back on campus at some point this summer, perhaps around Friday Night Lights to help keep some of that momentum heading into official visits in the fall.
But with Zion having family in the Central Ohio area, I do think the geography is less of a factor here than it might be otherwise. He really just kind of lit up when talking about Ohio State so this is one they could win and I believe he's a guy they'll make room for in this class.
Long way to go with Manuel
We caught up with five-star class of 2020 Ocala (Fla.) wide receiver Leonard Manuel after practice on Tuesday evening. Leonard has already made a decommitment from Miami, so this one has the makings of a wild Florida recruitment.
At this point, there isn't much value in handicapping this one. Ohio State tossed its hat into the ring recently, Leonard has talked with Zach Smith and has interest in Ohio State. If he makes the summer unofficial visit he is talking about making, you can put Ohio State in the discussion at that point.
But there are more than a dozen teams involved right now. I think anyone who thinks they know where Leonard is going to end up right now is probably fooling themselves. With more than 18 months to go, Leonard is already talking about how hard it is to not just commit on the visits he takes because he enjoys this stuff so much. He loves going and meeting the coaches and players, watching games or practices and just hanging around these programs so I expect a wild ride here.
He is a supremely talented football prospect though. Guys that big aren't supposed to be that sudden. He makes cuts that little slot receivers make, not 6'5 split ends. He really is a freak of nature in some of the things he is able to do athletically and because of that, if you're Ohio State you have to at least try here no matter how crazy this one might get.
Mom is also a heavy influence here. Leonard decommitted after being told it was too early for him to be sure of where he wanted to go and that he needed to experience a little more of what is out there. Winning mom is going to ultimately be very important when this one gets down to crunch time as that will be the opinion that Leonard values the most in all of this.
