Oklahoma Visitors
Just a very quick rundown of the main class of 2017 prospects that Ohio State is recruiting and that were either expected or rumored to be possibly attending last night's game in Norman.
Five-star linebacker Baron Browning did not make the trip. According to one source, Oklahoma wanted Browning to use one of his official visits if he was going to make the trip and he decided against that. Oklahoma is not considered a real player here for the nation's top linebacker.
This continues to look like an OSU/UCLA battle with Michigan as a sleeper and Texas as the wild card. As for the Texas result last night impacting Browning, I'll go with the same line of thinking that was used after the Longhorns beat Notre Dame. It was one game. Beating Notre Dame didn't cause some seismic shift in Baron's recruitment and losing to Cal won't do the same in the opposite direction. This comes down to total body of work this fall, if Strong is kept, if the program is moving in the right direction. None of that is answered in a single football game.
Four-star linebacker Anthony Hines did not visit Oklahoma this weekend, instead visiting Penn State. I am told that Hines and Oklahoma, once considered possibly his favorite, have been drifting apart a bit recently and that it is unlikely he ends up there. It also seems unlikely that he ends up at Penn State. With the Oklahoma information I was given, I now see Hines staying in-state either at Texas or Texas A&M, but Ohio State will keep working that one.
Five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson was there and Ohio State is still the longest of long shots here. If you want to put energy into a defensive tackle target, Jay Tufele is the one for that at this point.
And finally, five-star defensive back Jeff Okudah did make his official visit over the weekend. I have not heard anything that would change my stance that he is a very, very heavy lean towards Ohio State.
2018 Ohio thoughts
We're not quite halfway through the high school football season, but I've had a chance to see a lot of Ohio's top class of 2018 prospects over the past six weeks or so in live football settings. You never quite know how the depth is going to fill out in a recruiting class, really until senior seasons as there are always some late bloomers and while it may be good for bragging rights on internet message boards, that really isn't that important to Ohio State.
What is important to Ohio State, is how the cream of the crop in-state (top 8-12 guys) stacks up nationally. In that regard, the class of 2018 might be an ideal group for the Buckeyes. Again, comparing it to other past classes as a whole would be premature, but in terms of the very top guys in the state, this is as good as I have seen it the last half dozen years.
Jack Carman, Jaelen Gill, and Blue Smith are all national level prospects and we might be talking about multiple five-stars within that trio. I also believe Trenton Gillison is one of the nation's elite tight end prospects. Those guys comprise my top four right now and that is as strong of a top four as you are likely to see in the Buckeye State.
There is also plenty of promise in that 5-10 range. Aeneas Hawkins, Dallas Gant, Xavier Henderson, Joseph Scates, Chris Oats, and to a certain extent Leonard Taylor, are all the types of talents you would hope to see filling out the back half of an Ohio Top Ten, so everything is pretty much on schedule there.
So in a class that will probably once again come down to the wire when it comes to numbers, seeing that there is a very strong group at the top in Ohio, should really help the Buckeyes in putting together another very strong class in 2018.
The best news for OSU, however, is that the Buckeyes are the favorite, to varying degrees, for the top four guys I listed above. It would be a major surprise to me if Carman or Gill ended up anywhere else. Both are pretty adamant about taking some time with the process, but Ohio State is in a great spot for both.
With Smith, basketball seems like the biggest competition at the moment. Now I have not put Blue in the same category as Gill or Carman in terms of leaning heavily towards Ohio State. I have felt, and still feel, that he is a little more open to other schools than the other two guys, but one source close to the Wayne program indicated to me that Ohio State has done the best job of recruiting him so far.
"If he plays football, I think he'll be a Buckeye," they shared.
Then with Gillison, it is simply a matter of the offer coming and I continue to be told that it will be coming at some point. If/when that happens, Ohio State will become the heavy favorite to land the Rivals100 prospect.
Wade visits Notre Dame
Just a quick update here. As of about 7 PM Buckeyes commit Shaun Wade was still on his official visit to Notre Dame. I am supposed to get more of an update in the morning on the specifics but I was told this evening that things were going well but it didn't sound like it was well enough to the point where I would change my opinion on Notre Dame's odds here, which I believe are long.
Again, I hope to be able to bring a little more than that to the table tomorrow, but one thing I don't do is mess with kids/families on their OV's, so when they are avaiable to discuss things further, I wll post more information.
Henry has Ohio ties
We talked about elite class of 2018 defensive end K.J. Henry out of North Carolina earlier this week as we were informed he would be making an unofficial visit to Ohio State for the Michigan game.
The nation's No. 18 overall prospect in the 2018 class has some ties to the state of Ohio as he was born in Athens while his father, Keith, was an assistant coach at Ohio University. His mother was also born in Cleveland and there is still family in the state so that is something that is appealing to Henry.
Now this won't be Henry's first visit to Columbus. He came up over the summer and was able to visit some family and take a close look at OSU, so this will be visit No. 2 for K.J. in November, a strong indication that the Buckeyes are going to be a player in this one.
I spoke to KJ's mother, Nicole, this evening and there is a very real admiration from both her, her husband, and her son, for Urban Meyer. So a lot of things working well for Ohio State here. I do think distance is going to be a bit of a factor here, but Ohio State falls within that 6-7 hour range from home which I was told, when coupled with there still being family in Ohio, makes the Buckeyes a serious contender.
I will have more tomorrow in a full update, but thought this was important enough to bring here tonight.
One more Ohioan to keep in mind
Obviously spots are very tight in finishing out this class and the number of realistic in-state recruiting targets that remain is even smaller. Recently we discussed the outside possibility of Massillon Washington offensive lineman Thayer Munford sneaking his way into the fold.
One other prospect to at least keep on the back burner is tight end Trey Pugh, a Northwestern commit out of Jonathon Alder High School just outside of Columbus. The coaching staff was very high on Pugh around this time last year but essentially passed on all of the tight end targets until further notice.
While there is still not a firm plan in place to take someone at that position in this class, Pugh is still being evaluated by the coaching staff, I'm told, and if there is a spot opened up at the position he is definitely a candidate there. So much like Munford, there are a few things that would need to happen to free up a spot, but he is still "on the board".
A spot being available at the tight end position is tied to two things, I'm told. First, potential attrition at the position. That could be a transfer, an injury hardship, or perhaps more likely, a Marcus Baugh departure for the NFL. It is also tied, though perhaps less so, to the running back situation. Two backs in the class and there probably isn't room for a tight end, no matter what. A one back class (most likely scenario in my opinion), opens up one of those miscellaneous "best available" type of spots and a tight end could fit that bill. But again, it is more heavily tied right now to the specific numbers in the tight ends room.
Don't be surprised if Ed Warinner makes a pit stop to see Pugh this upcoming week and it would make sense to do it on Friday to get a live evaluation.
Texas Invasion
This will be a big week for Ohio State on the recruiting trail as the bye week will not only allow players to rest up, but it will allow the coaches to get out and visit schools and go to games and I expect the Buckeye staff to be out in full force as they try and close the books on this tremendous 2017 class.
Expect a VERY heavy presence in the state of Texas this week from the Ohio State staff. They will absolutely check in on Jeff Okudah, Baron Browning, and Anthony Hines. I'm told at least five Ohio State coaches could be in the Lone Star State this week with head coach Urban Meyer being one of them along with Greg Schiano and, of course Luke Fickell, who has his top two targets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area right now.
Buckeyes running back commit J.K. Dobbins also told me this evening that he expects Tony Alford to swing by his school tomorrow. Dobbins added that he intends to be on campus for the Michigan game and that the plan is for that to be his official visit.
Then there is Greg Studrawa who is now going to be helping out in Houston after developing some ties there during his stint at LSU. I expect super 2018 DB Anthony Cook to get a visit at some point and they are still working on Kary Vincent, who while I think is still a big long shot, could be worth keeping an eye on as the LSU situation unfolds with a possible coaching change. I would also anticipate seeing Stud pop up in Tennessee for Trey Smith.
Look for a lot of coaches to check on "their guys" this week as well when it comes to the commits. So Tim Beck checking on Shaun Wade and Emory Jones is likely, Kerry Coombs making a Cincinnati swing for Jerron Cage and Amir Riep as well as 2018 targets Chris Oats and Aeneas Hawkins is also likely.
I'm told Larry Johnson is expected to see Chase Young at Dematha and will also be checking on priority targets such as Xavier Thomas and Taron Vincent in the 2018 class.
Zach Smith is expected in South Florida at some point during the week and I have been told he could be stopping to see Tyjon Lindsey as well out at Bishop Gorman.
So even though it's a bye week, expect a lot of action on the recruiting front this week.
Just a very quick rundown of the main class of 2017 prospects that Ohio State is recruiting and that were either expected or rumored to be possibly attending last night's game in Norman.
Five-star linebacker Baron Browning did not make the trip. According to one source, Oklahoma wanted Browning to use one of his official visits if he was going to make the trip and he decided against that. Oklahoma is not considered a real player here for the nation's top linebacker.
This continues to look like an OSU/UCLA battle with Michigan as a sleeper and Texas as the wild card. As for the Texas result last night impacting Browning, I'll go with the same line of thinking that was used after the Longhorns beat Notre Dame. It was one game. Beating Notre Dame didn't cause some seismic shift in Baron's recruitment and losing to Cal won't do the same in the opposite direction. This comes down to total body of work this fall, if Strong is kept, if the program is moving in the right direction. None of that is answered in a single football game.
Four-star linebacker Anthony Hines did not visit Oklahoma this weekend, instead visiting Penn State. I am told that Hines and Oklahoma, once considered possibly his favorite, have been drifting apart a bit recently and that it is unlikely he ends up there. It also seems unlikely that he ends up at Penn State. With the Oklahoma information I was given, I now see Hines staying in-state either at Texas or Texas A&M, but Ohio State will keep working that one.
Five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson was there and Ohio State is still the longest of long shots here. If you want to put energy into a defensive tackle target, Jay Tufele is the one for that at this point.
And finally, five-star defensive back Jeff Okudah did make his official visit over the weekend. I have not heard anything that would change my stance that he is a very, very heavy lean towards Ohio State.
2018 Ohio thoughts
We're not quite halfway through the high school football season, but I've had a chance to see a lot of Ohio's top class of 2018 prospects over the past six weeks or so in live football settings. You never quite know how the depth is going to fill out in a recruiting class, really until senior seasons as there are always some late bloomers and while it may be good for bragging rights on internet message boards, that really isn't that important to Ohio State.
What is important to Ohio State, is how the cream of the crop in-state (top 8-12 guys) stacks up nationally. In that regard, the class of 2018 might be an ideal group for the Buckeyes. Again, comparing it to other past classes as a whole would be premature, but in terms of the very top guys in the state, this is as good as I have seen it the last half dozen years.
Jack Carman, Jaelen Gill, and Blue Smith are all national level prospects and we might be talking about multiple five-stars within that trio. I also believe Trenton Gillison is one of the nation's elite tight end prospects. Those guys comprise my top four right now and that is as strong of a top four as you are likely to see in the Buckeye State.
There is also plenty of promise in that 5-10 range. Aeneas Hawkins, Dallas Gant, Xavier Henderson, Joseph Scates, Chris Oats, and to a certain extent Leonard Taylor, are all the types of talents you would hope to see filling out the back half of an Ohio Top Ten, so everything is pretty much on schedule there.
So in a class that will probably once again come down to the wire when it comes to numbers, seeing that there is a very strong group at the top in Ohio, should really help the Buckeyes in putting together another very strong class in 2018.
The best news for OSU, however, is that the Buckeyes are the favorite, to varying degrees, for the top four guys I listed above. It would be a major surprise to me if Carman or Gill ended up anywhere else. Both are pretty adamant about taking some time with the process, but Ohio State is in a great spot for both.
With Smith, basketball seems like the biggest competition at the moment. Now I have not put Blue in the same category as Gill or Carman in terms of leaning heavily towards Ohio State. I have felt, and still feel, that he is a little more open to other schools than the other two guys, but one source close to the Wayne program indicated to me that Ohio State has done the best job of recruiting him so far.
"If he plays football, I think he'll be a Buckeye," they shared.
Then with Gillison, it is simply a matter of the offer coming and I continue to be told that it will be coming at some point. If/when that happens, Ohio State will become the heavy favorite to land the Rivals100 prospect.
Wade visits Notre Dame
Just a quick update here. As of about 7 PM Buckeyes commit Shaun Wade was still on his official visit to Notre Dame. I am supposed to get more of an update in the morning on the specifics but I was told this evening that things were going well but it didn't sound like it was well enough to the point where I would change my opinion on Notre Dame's odds here, which I believe are long.
Again, I hope to be able to bring a little more than that to the table tomorrow, but one thing I don't do is mess with kids/families on their OV's, so when they are avaiable to discuss things further, I wll post more information.
Henry has Ohio ties
We talked about elite class of 2018 defensive end K.J. Henry out of North Carolina earlier this week as we were informed he would be making an unofficial visit to Ohio State for the Michigan game.
The nation's No. 18 overall prospect in the 2018 class has some ties to the state of Ohio as he was born in Athens while his father, Keith, was an assistant coach at Ohio University. His mother was also born in Cleveland and there is still family in the state so that is something that is appealing to Henry.
Now this won't be Henry's first visit to Columbus. He came up over the summer and was able to visit some family and take a close look at OSU, so this will be visit No. 2 for K.J. in November, a strong indication that the Buckeyes are going to be a player in this one.
I spoke to KJ's mother, Nicole, this evening and there is a very real admiration from both her, her husband, and her son, for Urban Meyer. So a lot of things working well for Ohio State here. I do think distance is going to be a bit of a factor here, but Ohio State falls within that 6-7 hour range from home which I was told, when coupled with there still being family in Ohio, makes the Buckeyes a serious contender.
I will have more tomorrow in a full update, but thought this was important enough to bring here tonight.
One more Ohioan to keep in mind
Obviously spots are very tight in finishing out this class and the number of realistic in-state recruiting targets that remain is even smaller. Recently we discussed the outside possibility of Massillon Washington offensive lineman Thayer Munford sneaking his way into the fold.
One other prospect to at least keep on the back burner is tight end Trey Pugh, a Northwestern commit out of Jonathon Alder High School just outside of Columbus. The coaching staff was very high on Pugh around this time last year but essentially passed on all of the tight end targets until further notice.
While there is still not a firm plan in place to take someone at that position in this class, Pugh is still being evaluated by the coaching staff, I'm told, and if there is a spot opened up at the position he is definitely a candidate there. So much like Munford, there are a few things that would need to happen to free up a spot, but he is still "on the board".
A spot being available at the tight end position is tied to two things, I'm told. First, potential attrition at the position. That could be a transfer, an injury hardship, or perhaps more likely, a Marcus Baugh departure for the NFL. It is also tied, though perhaps less so, to the running back situation. Two backs in the class and there probably isn't room for a tight end, no matter what. A one back class (most likely scenario in my opinion), opens up one of those miscellaneous "best available" type of spots and a tight end could fit that bill. But again, it is more heavily tied right now to the specific numbers in the tight ends room.
Don't be surprised if Ed Warinner makes a pit stop to see Pugh this upcoming week and it would make sense to do it on Friday to get a live evaluation.
Texas Invasion
This will be a big week for Ohio State on the recruiting trail as the bye week will not only allow players to rest up, but it will allow the coaches to get out and visit schools and go to games and I expect the Buckeye staff to be out in full force as they try and close the books on this tremendous 2017 class.
Expect a VERY heavy presence in the state of Texas this week from the Ohio State staff. They will absolutely check in on Jeff Okudah, Baron Browning, and Anthony Hines. I'm told at least five Ohio State coaches could be in the Lone Star State this week with head coach Urban Meyer being one of them along with Greg Schiano and, of course Luke Fickell, who has his top two targets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area right now.
Buckeyes running back commit J.K. Dobbins also told me this evening that he expects Tony Alford to swing by his school tomorrow. Dobbins added that he intends to be on campus for the Michigan game and that the plan is for that to be his official visit.
Then there is Greg Studrawa who is now going to be helping out in Houston after developing some ties there during his stint at LSU. I expect super 2018 DB Anthony Cook to get a visit at some point and they are still working on Kary Vincent, who while I think is still a big long shot, could be worth keeping an eye on as the LSU situation unfolds with a possible coaching change. I would also anticipate seeing Stud pop up in Tennessee for Trey Smith.
Look for a lot of coaches to check on "their guys" this week as well when it comes to the commits. So Tim Beck checking on Shaun Wade and Emory Jones is likely, Kerry Coombs making a Cincinnati swing for Jerron Cage and Amir Riep as well as 2018 targets Chris Oats and Aeneas Hawkins is also likely.
I'm told Larry Johnson is expected to see Chase Young at Dematha and will also be checking on priority targets such as Xavier Thomas and Taron Vincent in the 2018 class.
Zach Smith is expected in South Florida at some point during the week and I have been told he could be stopping to see Tyjon Lindsey as well out at Bishop Gorman.
So even though it's a bye week, expect a lot of action on the recruiting front this week.
