One Stop Shop
It's officially transfer season in the world of football recruiting and there has been a lot of movement in recent weeks that will, if nothing else, make life a little bit more convenient for the Ohio State coaching staff.
As it usually does around this time, IMG Academy is getting a lot of rising seniors transferring into the program from all over the nation. Many of the recent tranfers into the program are Ohio State targets. Some prominent examples include Rivals100 running back T.J. Pledger from California, Rivals250 OL/DL Verdis Brown from Chicago, and most recently, Rivals250 wide receiver Joshua Moore out of Texas.
Whether this will ultimately benefit Ohio State is yet to be seen, but it will make travel plans a lot more convenient. Brown wasn't going to be a tough stop in Chicago, but Pledger's move from California makes things much more convenient there and certainly Moore's move (announced yesterday) will be convenient for Zach Smith as Yoakum Texas is in no man's land between San Antonio and Houston.
So the Buckeyes will have somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen targets at IMG Academy this spring as those guys join the likes of Taron Vincent, Houston Griffith, and others. Once again it looks like Bradenton, Florida will be the epicenter of recruiting this cycle.
First big battle
Many are wondering, perhaps even eagerly anticipating, when we'll see the first true Tom Herman vs. Urban Meyer recruiting battle.
Well it's here.
Class of 2018 Houston (TX) Lamar defensive back Anthony Cook will be a Meyer/Herman battle in perhaps the purest form. While there are certainly other kids who will list both Texas and Ohio State among their schools of interest, this is the one where both the Longhorns and Buckeyes are both A. right at the top of the prospect's list of schools and B. a high priority for both programs.
While Ohio State's 2018 board of targets is a constantly evolving thing, Cook is one of those prospects that is always going to be a take, regardless of any numbers situation. He is a priority recruit for Greg Schiano and company in this class, and with the big haul at defensive back in 2017, the Buckeyes can really focus in on a select group of targets in 2018.
Jeff Okudah is already in Cook's ear about Ohio State and I am sure whenever a visit is setup, that Okudah will be hosting Cook.
On the other end, Cook is also high on Texas, is very familiar with Herman and his work at the University of Houston, and will be heading to Austin for an upcoming Junior Day. Cook's plans to visit Ohio State for the Michigan game back in November fell through, but it is highly likely he'll make it to Columbus this off-season for an unofficial visit.
I have had several people familiar with Anthony's recruitment tell me that these are not only the top two schools right now, but that it would be hard to see him end up anywhere other than one of these two programs.
Game on.
Decision time for Woodbey
Adam Gorney was all over this earlier today, but an announcement is coming from Rivals100 S/ATH Jaiden Woodbey later this evening. I have talked to people on both sides of this one and after consulting my Magical Orb of Wonderment, all indications are that the pick will be Ohio State tonight for the four-star prospect.
I don't want to throw a wet blanket on some expected good news for the Buckeyes here, but I am simply warning everyone that this will likely not be a quiet recruitment for the next 12 months. To quote the great philosopher Mike Tyson, I do not expect Jaiden to simply fade into Bolivia over the next year and quietly sign in February.
USC will be a constant threat over the next year and I certainly don't expect the UCLA's, Oklahoma's, and Nebraska's of the world to give up either. Jaiden very nearly committed to USC a couple of weeks ago but the Trojans took a big haul at safety in 2017 and the Buckeyes' DB class was more cornerback-centric. Combined with the recent unofficial visit, I believe that has been enough to get Ohio State an early commitment tonight, but we'll see.
The good news for the Buckeyes is that Wyatt Davis is signed and will be on campus soon and Jaiden always seems to have had a fondness for the program. So there are forces here that are working in OSU's favor, but if your stomach couldn't handle the Shaun Wade recruitment, you may want to sit this one out.
It's officially transfer season in the world of football recruiting and there has been a lot of movement in recent weeks that will, if nothing else, make life a little bit more convenient for the Ohio State coaching staff.
As it usually does around this time, IMG Academy is getting a lot of rising seniors transferring into the program from all over the nation. Many of the recent tranfers into the program are Ohio State targets. Some prominent examples include Rivals100 running back T.J. Pledger from California, Rivals250 OL/DL Verdis Brown from Chicago, and most recently, Rivals250 wide receiver Joshua Moore out of Texas.
Whether this will ultimately benefit Ohio State is yet to be seen, but it will make travel plans a lot more convenient. Brown wasn't going to be a tough stop in Chicago, but Pledger's move from California makes things much more convenient there and certainly Moore's move (announced yesterday) will be convenient for Zach Smith as Yoakum Texas is in no man's land between San Antonio and Houston.
So the Buckeyes will have somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen targets at IMG Academy this spring as those guys join the likes of Taron Vincent, Houston Griffith, and others. Once again it looks like Bradenton, Florida will be the epicenter of recruiting this cycle.
First big battle
Many are wondering, perhaps even eagerly anticipating, when we'll see the first true Tom Herman vs. Urban Meyer recruiting battle.
Well it's here.
Class of 2018 Houston (TX) Lamar defensive back Anthony Cook will be a Meyer/Herman battle in perhaps the purest form. While there are certainly other kids who will list both Texas and Ohio State among their schools of interest, this is the one where both the Longhorns and Buckeyes are both A. right at the top of the prospect's list of schools and B. a high priority for both programs.
While Ohio State's 2018 board of targets is a constantly evolving thing, Cook is one of those prospects that is always going to be a take, regardless of any numbers situation. He is a priority recruit for Greg Schiano and company in this class, and with the big haul at defensive back in 2017, the Buckeyes can really focus in on a select group of targets in 2018.
Jeff Okudah is already in Cook's ear about Ohio State and I am sure whenever a visit is setup, that Okudah will be hosting Cook.
On the other end, Cook is also high on Texas, is very familiar with Herman and his work at the University of Houston, and will be heading to Austin for an upcoming Junior Day. Cook's plans to visit Ohio State for the Michigan game back in November fell through, but it is highly likely he'll make it to Columbus this off-season for an unofficial visit.
I have had several people familiar with Anthony's recruitment tell me that these are not only the top two schools right now, but that it would be hard to see him end up anywhere other than one of these two programs.
Game on.
Decision time for Woodbey
Adam Gorney was all over this earlier today, but an announcement is coming from Rivals100 S/ATH Jaiden Woodbey later this evening. I have talked to people on both sides of this one and after consulting my Magical Orb of Wonderment, all indications are that the pick will be Ohio State tonight for the four-star prospect.
I don't want to throw a wet blanket on some expected good news for the Buckeyes here, but I am simply warning everyone that this will likely not be a quiet recruitment for the next 12 months. To quote the great philosopher Mike Tyson, I do not expect Jaiden to simply fade into Bolivia over the next year and quietly sign in February.
USC will be a constant threat over the next year and I certainly don't expect the UCLA's, Oklahoma's, and Nebraska's of the world to give up either. Jaiden very nearly committed to USC a couple of weeks ago but the Trojans took a big haul at safety in 2017 and the Buckeyes' DB class was more cornerback-centric. Combined with the recent unofficial visit, I believe that has been enough to get Ohio State an early commitment tonight, but we'll see.
The good news for the Buckeyes is that Wyatt Davis is signed and will be on campus soon and Jaiden always seems to have had a fondness for the program. So there are forces here that are working in OSU's favor, but if your stomach couldn't handle the Shaun Wade recruitment, you may want to sit this one out.
