The Hurry Up: Lamont Wade to Visit, The Opening Regionals Could Bring Many Visitors and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on May 25, 2015 at 8:31 pm
Lamont Wade will visit Columbus this coming weekend.
Lamont Wade
29 Comments

Welcome to The Hurry Up, which runs Sunday through Thursday, serving as your last stop for recruiting news and notes nightly. We'll recap the day as it happened and preview the days ahead while keeping our ear to the ground on the Ohio State recruiting scene.


WADE WILL VISIT OHIO STATE THIS WEEKEND

The Buckeyes already have commitments from 2017 defensive backs Shaun Wade and Marcus Williamson, and they've been in hot pursuit of Clairton, Pennsylvania's Lamont Wade, whom they offered in early March. 

The Buckeyes have twice visited Wade since the spring evaluation period began and this weekend Wade will return the favor by heading to Columbus on Saturday for a college and campus tour. He'll stay overnight and then participate in Nike's The Opening regionals on Sunday at Ohio State.

Wade is well aware that there's limited spots left in the defensive backfield for the 2017 class and the Buckeyes have been at or near the top of his list for some time. He's the country's 136th-ranked prospect in his class and the eighth-ranked cornerback. A commitment is not expected, but the visit is an important one. The Buckeyes currently are being shut out in the 247Sports.com crystal ball for Wade. Pittsburgh area prospects are often among the most difficult to recruit but the chance to steal the Clairton cornerback from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia is there if the Buckeyes can keep engaged.

CORLEY VISIT TIMELINE CONTINUES TO CHANGE

Aside from Wade, this weekend in Columbus could be a pretty big one depending on which regional stars show up on campus for Nike's premier recruiting/evaluation camp.

Yesterday, we discussed that Austin Mack and Auston Robertson will be in town, and today I was informed that it's likely Donnie Corley, the four-star wide receiver from Detroit, is likely to visit in support of teammates who will participate in Sunday's camp. Corley, who has already been invited to The Opening, will not camp, but getting him in town is instrumental as the Buckeyes continue to chase Michigan State, who is the perceived leader in his recruitment. 

I say perceived because after talking to one source close to the Buckeyes, it appears Tennessee – where Corley has visited and has family nearby – remains the program the Buckeyes are most worried about.

BUCKEYES COULD BE WELL REPRESENTED IN RIVALS.COM FIVE-STAR CAMP

It's almost summer and when it comes to recruiting that means it's officially camp season. Rivals.com hosts their big camp in Baltimore this June and it could be a big recruiting weekend for Kareem Walker and Jonathon Cooper, the two Buckeye commitments who have been selected.

Fresh off a national title run, the Buckeyes are riding high on the recruiting trail and commitments Jonathon Cooper and Kareem Walker will represent the program in Baltimore. Several top priority targets will also be on hand for the festivities. Jared Mayden, Richard LeCounte, Isaiah Pryor, JoeJuan Williams and Lamont Wade are priority prospects among the defensive back group. Dexter Lawrence and Rashan Gary are of interest in the defensive trenches with 2017 standout Tony Gray one to watch on the offensive side. Receivers Dredrick Snelson and Ahmir Mitchell will also have the Buckeyes' attention. 

Ohio State's recruiting class is rapidly filling, so the numbers are tight, but there's no doubt that it's going to end up with some more special players. 

OHIO STATE IN DANIELS' TOP TEN

The Buckeyes are on the hunt for another defensive tackle in 2016 and this weekend they made the cut for one of the best in Texas, Euless' Chris Daniels. A 6-foot-4, 300-pounder, Daniels narrowed down his scholarship offers from 25 to a manageable ten.

TCU and Texas A&M are the early favorites for Daniels, and he's not yet visited Columbus so it's hard to consider the Buckeyes as a legitimate option at this time.

WALLACE PARTICIPATES IN CALIFORNIA QB CAMP

Ohio State's 2016 quarterback commitment, DeSoto, Texas' Tristen Wallace, took part in quarterback guru Steve Clarkson's camp this weekend in San Diego. Rivals.com analyst Adam Gorney was on hand and got a chance to watch Wallace up close. 

Gorney's review of Wallace isn't glowing, and the Buckeyes' commitment – who we've noted previously wasn't as college-ready as some of the other targets Ohio State had been pursuing – seems to have some work ahead of him.

Physically, he looks awesome. He’s all of 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds so he’s a big kid but he struggled early on hitting targets and putting spin on the ball. In a drill where the quarterbacks had to just catch the snap and throw – not find the laces and reset their feet – Wallace had a tough time.

There are times where he pulls his lead shoulder out (so his left shoulder) and the ball sails on him. The coaches pointed that out to him a few times and he finally got it but it did take a couple reps to get it right.

As the drills continued, Wallace settled in and started doing things the right way and he was hitting targets pretty regularly but I could still tell he was thinking too much through the drill and he was a little slower than the other quarterbacks.

Throwing vertical routes, Wallace had many nice passes. He threw outside of the numbers on the field and he spun it well to the receivers. When he was throwing on the run, Wallace zipped it nicely a few times as well and looked pretty comfortable getting out of the pocket, using his feet to his advantage and then throwing down the field.

If you're a Rivals.com subscriber there was also a video interview with Wallace where he discussed his recruitment and commitment to the Buckeyes.

29 Comments
View 29 Comments