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@Kevin_N and I are currently continuing on south for our big Southern Swing trip. While we were in the car, I wanted to be productive, so I wrote up a Skull Session to talk about our highlights from the past few days. Stay tuned as we will have plenty of great content to end our trip!
Pair of 2022 safety targets schedule official visits, are high on Ohio State
We’ll start off this Skull Session with our most recent interview: Markeith Williams. The three-star defensive back out of Evans High School in Orlando told us that he has scheduled his official visit to Ohio State. That trip will be from June 25-27. The Buckeyes currently reside in Williams’ unofficial top five, with the others being Alabama, Florida, Miami and Nebraska. I’m hearing that the Hurricanes have made a really strong push here, and would probably land him if he committed today.
I also heard from my source that Ohio State and Miami are doing the most right now in terms of recruiting him. Williams really likes the Buckeyes, and I think they’re in that top two or top three range. We’ll have a story on him shortly, but OSU is more than just a hat on the table here.
Sticking with defensive back targets, Jake Pope is also slated to officially visit Columbus in June, with that visit being a weekend before Williams’ OV. Pope is excited about this official, and I wouldn’t be surprised if former Buford High School teammate Harry Miller is his host on the visit.
Although he has a top eight, we’ve been told that Ohio State is in the top half of that list. He’s interested in how he’d fit in the defense and the potential for early playing time, so he’s one to keep monitoring.
Could teammates from Cedar Grove be a package deal for the Buckeyes?
After speaking with Pope and then Bennett Christian on Monday, we went to Cedar Grove High School. There, we spoke with Rivals250 defensive linemen Christen Miller and Joshua White. Miller has officials to Ohio State (June 25-27), Louisville and USC set up, and he’s also considering one to Georgia.
From what we’ve been told, however, this one is coming down to the Buckeyes and Trojans. Miller has taken unofficial to each of these schools, which offered him back in February. I’ve been told USC is “very high” on him. He’s intrigued by being in front of the camera (Miller has his own YouTube channel), and it’s possible that USC’s close proximity to Hollywood could be one of the main appeals of the school.
As for Ohio State, the main selling point here is and has always been Larry Johnson. Johnson likes him inside and outside of the defensive line, and his reputation is impeccable in Miller’s eyes. One thing that could greatly assist Ohio State here, however, is White. Contact faded earlier this year, but the staff has picked things back up with him. We don’t know if he is definitively a take (I think the staff wants to see him in person first), but if White is, this helps out the Buckeyes’ chances with Miller. The two of them are very close friends, and Ohio State is the only common school they’re considering.
Don't read too much into Singletary rescheduling his official visit
Tuesday saw us head to Jacksonville, which gave us a chance to speak with five-star cornerback commit Jaheim Singletary. The big piece of news to take away from that conversation is that Singletary won’t be officially visiting Ohio State the first weekend of June with his fellow 2022 commits.
I would not read too much into this, however, as Singletary told us a family obligation is pushing his official to June 25-27. This will be when Miller, White, Williams, Enai White and several others will be in town. Don’t expect Singletary to recruit too much as that’s admittedly not in his personality to do so. He says he’s 100 percent locked in with the Buckeyes, but doing what Bennett Christian or CJ Hicks does is not his forte.
2023 Rivals100 o-lineman TJ Shanahan is strongly considering the Buckeyes
Switching back over to today, I want to highlight one more conversation we had. Our second stop brought us to Timber Creek High School to speak with Rivals100 offensive lineman TJ Shanahan. If you recall, Sam Spiegelman submitted a FutureCast on his profile in favor of the Buckeyes over a week ago. Shanahan had nothing but great things to say about the program, and has really enjoyed building relationships with Greg Studrawa and Tony Alford.
He actually told us off the camera that he grew up watching Ohio State, and was a fan of both the program and former quarterback J.T. Barrett. We did some reaching out following our time with Shanahan, and there’s definitely some legitimacy to Spiegelman’s prediction. I’m not ready to submit a FutureCast quite yet based on what I’ve gathered, but I think the Buckeyes are very much in his unofficial top three, and could be in the driver’s seat after he visits in June.
Henry To'oto'o leaning toward tOSU
Kevin and I are on the road, but we do want to mention Mike Farrell’s tweet from today. Farrell says big-time linebacker target Henry To’oto’o, who is in the NCAA Transfer Portal, is rumored to be a lock for Ohio State, according to a source close to the team.
I cannot confirm this myself, but we are hearing the Buckeyes are perceived as the front-runners for To’oto’o, and that a decision may come soon. Ohio State losing their top four linebackers from last season absolutely has aided them in their pursuit of the former Rivals100 prospect, as well as the possibility he may need to sit out a year if he transferred within the SEC (the favorite in the conference would have been Alabama).
We’ll be closely monitoring his social media, and will have coverage if/when he chooses Ohio State.
A little more on McCullough's flip
I wanted to end this Skull Session by saying multiple prospects we spoke with over the past few days said they saw Dasan McCullough’s flip to Indiana coming. It was still a little surprising when it happened but, as most people on the board understand, it’s hard to pass up playing with your family. It’s difficult to truly say how much of a sting this is for the program, but it seems to have affected Ohio State’s pursuit of one player: Damari Alston.
He is really close with McCullough, and we've been told his departure from the class has apparently impacted Alston's interest in the Buckeyes. I’m starting to lean toward saying it’s very unlikely Alston ends up in Ohio State’s 2022 class; anything can happen, but McCullough’s flip and the staff prioritizing others over him makes me believe he’s headed elsewhere for college.
Click HERE for a full running list of all our stories from Southern Swing thus far.
