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NextGen's 'The Show' took place at IMG Academy over the weekend. This is a premier event focused on underclassmen prospects in the 2021-23 classes. There were definitely a few guys worth noting for Ohio State fans at the event.
First and foremost, I continue to be told that the Ohio State staff loves Philadelphia (Pa.) Neumann-Goretti standout Tysheem Johnson. Position? To Be Determind. Running back, slot receiver, defensive back are all in play for Tysheem at this point and both Brian Hartline and Jeff Hafley are recruiting him (or at least trying to, he's incredibly low key).
Tysheem doesn't talk much to coaches at this point, but told me Virginia Tech and Ohio State are the two schools that he knows are recruiting him the hardest just from talking to his high school coaches. He wants to get out to Ohio State this fall if he can swing it with his high school schedule and he is already hearing a lot about the Buckeyes from Kyle McCord.
Ohio State will have a shot here if they continue to push. The interesting thing about Tysheem is that he has some Zach Harrison in him. He doesn't particularly care for the recruiting process, doesn't particularly care for the idea of coaches calling him and texting him all the time, so he's going to be an interesting one to cover but he's an extremely talented kid that can do a lot of different things on the football field. He scored 18 touchdowns in just seven games as a sophomore and those numbers will probably go up this year as he told me he's probably going to play more running back as a junior than he did as a sophomore.
Another guy that I really liked and who has major Ohio State interest is 2022 quarterback Brady Allen out of Fort Branch (Ind.) Gibson Southern. Allen stands at 6-foot-5 already and throws a beautiful ball. Early offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Purdue, and Virginia Tech and he has made multiple stops at Ohio State so far.
The Buckeyes can be pretty methodical when it comes to the 2022 QB search. I think they'll take their time with that one now that they have their next two guys in the fold and are snooping around for a potential second guy in 2020. But Allen is probably going to be on the list of guys who get a really close look.
Pick Change
During the month of June, Ohio State sources seemed to lose a bit of confidence in landing Maryland linebacker Mitchell Melton. Not to the point that they felt it was a lost cause, but just not quite as confident as during the Spring. Then Melton made his final official visit to Michigan the weekend of the 21st. That was a big weekend for Ohio State but it was also a big weekend in Ann Arbor and led to a slew of commitments from prospects who were on campus with Melton that weekend.
So there was some confidence from the Michigan people I talk to coming out of that weekend and Notre Dame has recently been considered a distant third in that race. Coupling that with a seemingly less optimistic Ohio State and the Buckeyes' chances surging with Cody Simon, I put in a pick for Michigan to get Melton at that time.
Since that visit has digested, however, the confidence on Michigan's end has slipped quite a bit and momentum has moved back toward Ohio State. Melton is announcing in just two days, he'll put his decision up on Twitter late morning/early afternoon on Wednesday July 3rd, so there isn't much time for this to flip back the other way. With that in mind, I've changed my pick from Michigan to Ohio State this morning after talking to sources around all three of his finalists. I think Ohio State is the safe pick right now.
Ohio State has recruited Melton the hardest for the longest and I think that is going to win out. If it goes that way, that would essentially wrap up linebacker recruiting minus the Noah Sewell's and Justin Flowe's of the world who would have a spot regardless but who are somewhere between a major long shot (Sewell) and an absolute pipe dream (Flowe).
Two team battles
Two Ohio State targets who could be off the board in the next month or so may be down to two schools, at least privately. The two prospects that I'm referring to are Deerfield Beach (Fla.) running back Jaylan Knighton and Charlotte (NC) Providence Day School defensive lineman Kedrick Bingley-Jones.
Knighton's two right now are Ohio State and Florida State. I have not logged a pick yet for Knighton but if I had to today it would be for Ohio State. I've started to feel pretty good about the Buckeyes there the last couple of weeks with the dominoes falling the way they have.
Bingley-Jones is a tougher read. We're once again left trying to figure out how likely a North Carolina homebody defensive lineman is to pack up and leave the state. Success has been mixed there for the Buckeyes over the years which makes it even more difficult to try and process since Ohio State has won some of these battles and lost some in recent history. Right now sources close to both Ohio State and UNC believe it's the Buckeyes versus the Tar Heels. The national power and Larry Johnson versus the comfort and convenience of home under a new head coach in Mack Brown who is building some recruiting momentum and buzz right now in Chapel Hill.
Going to talk to Knighton a little bit more this week and could certainly see myself making an "official" pick there at that point. Bingley-Jones I think is more of a wild card at this point and will be something that continues to play out over the course of the month of July. Yes, it is a Dead Period, but coaches and prospects can still talk on the phone and there will be a lot of tough conversations had with the family as he weighs the pros of Ohio State and playing for Larry Johnson versus the pros of staying home. Kedrick is tentatively set to make his college announcement on August 3rd.
The Opening
I flew into Dallas late last night from Tampa so I will be at The Opening starting this afternoon. The training camp portion of the event runs today from 3-7 PM central time. There are plenty of Ohio State commits and targets here so I'll be posting updates here on the site throughout the week.
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