• Florida offered Denzel Ward on his unofficial visit yesterday
• Cincinnati offers Jacques Patrick

Rivals $ - James names some early leaders '14 FL RB Tony James

• Early leaders are Ohio State, Florida and Florida State and says Oregon would join that group is they offered. 

Rivals $ - Garrett schedules another Buckeye trip '14 IL LB Clifton Garrett

• Says he has no idea where the rumor started that things went poorly when he visited for FNL and says he has always had OSU high on his list...returning with his parents to see more of the school outside of the football program.

Scout $ - Under Armour Recap: Ohio State

• By The Bank.....Breakdown of how each commit performed during the week and what The Bank expects of them at the next level.

ESPN $ - Dante Sawyer talks package deal '14 GA DE Dante Sawyer

• Hearing from Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, UCLA, Alabama & Florida. Plans on visiting Columbus in February with Demarre Kitt & Nick Glass.

ESPN $ - Filling out OSU's 2013 recruiting class '13 CO OT Dan Skipper

• Will be in Columbus on the 19th for an Official Visit 

Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/7

A weekend to remember for Ohio State fans was topped off with the commitments of two top linebackers in the class of 2013. While that moment was the highlight of the weekend, there's plenty of other recruits to target for the finish of this class.

After a much-anticipated weekend, the Buckeyes class of 2013 shines even brighter, securing itself as a top five class after the commitments of '13 4-star LB Trey Johnson and '13 4-star LB Mike Mitchell. As you already know, '13 4-star WR James Quick committed to Louisville and stayed in his home state, picking the Cardinals over Ohio State. Now that Coach Meyer has a bit more room to work with in this class, the Buckeyes may be targeting some more high-profile athletes.

Quick seemed virtually a Buckeye lean earlier in the week, but in the end, was persuaded by the lure of staying home. The real dagger came later that day, when Quick said if he was committing on Wednesday, he would have been a Buckeye. Thursday night was when the Sugar Bowl took place, allowing the Cardinals to upset the No. 3 ranked Gators, which ultimately pushed Louisville to Quick's top spot:

#Louisville commit James Quick says he would have been a #Buckeye on Wednesday. Changed mind after #Cardinal BCS win.

— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) January 5, 2013

The commitments weren't the only stories at the Under Armour and Army All-American Games, however. In fact, several future Buckeyes who had already committed to Ohio State were showing off their skills in the all-star contests. One commit, '13 DB Cam Burrows, made a huge statement that he could, in fact, play at the cornerback position. I can only imagine the look on Coach Kerry Coombs' face when he was checking around to see how his future players were doing:

Cam Burrows keeps insisting he's a cornerback to all. After seeing him every day for a week, he just might know more than anyone. Talented

— Bill Greene (@BillBankGreene) January 5, 2013

More good news comes in the form of the early enrollees, as the future Buckeyes prepare to attend class at Ohio State. '13 QB JT Barrett was one of those who decided to enroll early, and he posted a photo (you can see above as well) of his signing of his National Letter of Intent (LOI):

Signing day for me at Ohio State #blessed twitter.com/Jt_theQB/statu…

— Jt Barrett (@Jt_theQB) January 5, 2013

Barrett, who's enrolling early to begin rehab on the season ending knee injury he suffered playing high school football (and is expected to redshirt), is joined by 3-star DE Tracy Sprinkle, 3-star DE/LB Tyquan Lewis, 4-star DB Eli Apple, and 4-star DB Cam Burrows. All five start class today, and Barrett aside, should make their presence known in this coming April's Spring Game in Cincinnati.

Shifting gears to the future, '14 WR Josh Malone might be a name you want to keep tabs on, as the 4-star receiver recently named Ohio State in his top five. Malone is rated by 247Sports as the No. 3 player in Tennessee, the nation's No. 11 wide receiver in the land and the country's No. 79 overall recruit. The talented receiver is looking forward to taking more visits in the south and west when he gets back on the trail, so it's up to Coach Meyer and his staff to keep Malone interested. Malone has reportedly clocked a 4.60 in the forty-yard dash, a 4.1 in the pro-shuttle and has a 31.5-inch vertical.

Shelton Gibson tells me that #OhioState and #WVU are tied. I believe him about as much as I believed Quick when he said #OSU was leading

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivlerBG) January 5, 2013

'13 4-star WR Shelton Gibson recently told the media that he got a 20 on his ACT, which puts the Cleveland-Glenville product in a pretty nice spot to come to Ohio State. Speaking of the Buckeyes, Gibson currently says that Coach Meyer's team is tied with West Virginia as his favorites, but Marc Givler clearly isn't buying it. We tend to agree with Givler, especially when it comes to Gibson, who has been clear-cut about having Ohio State as his leader.

Finally, '14 LB Clifton Garrett will be heading back to Columbus for an overnight visit according to Core 6 Athletes. This only means good things for Ohio State, as this is another big visit for the linebacking core.

2014 US ARMY All-American LB Clifton Garrett headed back to #OhioState February 2nd for another overnight visit.#Buckeyes

— Core 6 Athletes (@core6athletes) January 6, 2013

Urban Meyer, Ohio State secure recruits during weekend

Ohio State football was banned from the postseason, but you can’t say the Buckeyes didn’t make progress during college football’s bowl season.

OSU grabbed two coveted recruits at the linebacker position during weekend all-star games to add to a 2013 recruiting class ranked No. 3 in America by Rivals.com. The two commits fill an area of need for coach Urban Meyer’s 2013 class, which lost linebacker Alex Anzalone to Notre Dame in May.

Starting linebackers Zach Boren and Etienne Sabino will be lost to graduation, leaving sophomore Ryan Shazier as the only returning starter at the position.

OSU gobbled up four-star linebacker recruit Mike Mitchell of Plano, Texas, late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. Mitchell, of Prestonwood Christian Academy, boasts a 6-foot-4, 216-pound frame and was ranked the third-best player in talent-rich Texas, according to Rivals.com.

The weekend’s first piece of good recruiting news for OSU came Friday during the Under Armour All-American Game when four-star linebacker Trey Johnson of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Central Gwinnett High School donned an OSU ball cap to announce his decision to join Meyer’s 2013 recruiting class. Johnson stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs in at 221 pounds, according to Rivals.com.

The verbal commitments from Mitchell and Johnson bring the total number of four-star players in the Buckeyes’ 2013 class to 14, according to Rivals.com. Only Notre Dame and Alabama, respectively, have classes ranked higher than OSU’s.

Verbal commitments are something of an appetizer in the world of college football, with the main course coming on National Signing Day, which falls on Feb. 6. Recruits are able to put pen to paper on that day and make their commitment to a given program binding.

Vonn Bell on Nick Saban: “He’s a DB coach, and he’s going to be coaching me”

Vonn Bell, the 5-star safety from Ridgeland, nearly committed after the completion of his senior season. One of the main reasons he waited was to give a fair shake to his childhood favorite, Tennessee.

His other two finalists are Ohio State and rumored frontrunner Alabama.

“I waited because I wanted to go visit the campuses again, and give Tennessee a chance because they lost their coach at the end of the year,” Bell said. “I want to give everybody an equal and fair shot.”

How does Bell feel about the Volunteers? “They’re in a slump right now but I think Butch Davis … I mean, Butch Jones, is the guy that will bring them out of that slump.”

Bell had a lot of nice things to say about Urban Meyer and his national championship at Florida. But he may have saved his highest praise for Nick Saban.

“Alabama … it just speaks for itself,” Bell said. They are in the national championship again. Coach Nick Saban, he’s a DB coach, and he’s going to be coaching me. So Coach Saban has got guys into the NFL, so his name speaks for himself.”

Vonn Bell has the best poker face in this class. I give #Alabama the edge over #Buckeyes but don't count out his hometown love for the #Vols

— Kipp Adams (@KippLAdams) January 2, 2013

Ohio State missed on ESPN 150 wide receiver James Quick (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) over the weekend when the senior chose Louisville. What the Buckeyes did from a defensive standpoint, however, solidified an already strong unit.

With headliners on the front line and in the secondary, all that was missing were some linebackers.

What Ohio State got in Trey Johnson (Lawrenceville, Ga./Central Gwinnett) and Mike Mitchell (Plano, Texas/Prestonwood Christian) could impact the team earlier than many expect.