Newly Offered: Chris Lammons

Newly Offered: Saeed Blacknall (hudl)

Newly Offered: Chris Williams (hudl)

Newly Offered: Petera Wilson

Raekwon McMillan Interview with Keith Niebuhr

• North Carolina offered Kalvarez Bessent
• Kentucky offered Demarre Kitt, Darius West & Clifton Garrett
• Ohio State & Florida State offered Chris Lammons, Saeed Blacknall & Petera Wilson
• Ohio State offered Chris Williams
• Vanderbilt offered Joe Mixon & Derrell Scott
• Ole Miss & Tennessee offered Joe Mixon
• California, Nebraska & Kentucky offered Drake Harris
• Kansas State & Ohio offered Marcelys Jones
• Auburn offered Kevin Mouhon
• TCU offered John Bonney
• Notre Dame offered Kentavius Street
• @bartonsimmons 2013 APB/PG Corn Elder commits to #Miami, confirmed by his coach. Will play both sports
• @ZClark_LGHL Johnnie Dixon, out of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, tells me he spoke with #OhioState Coach Zach Smith
• ‏@MarcGivlerBG Some very interesting info on 5* DB Quin Blanding from @MichaelWarchant Quinteresting, almost. Basically stated that we may lead for him. Virginia and Florida State are the other two in contention and he said he want's to decide within a month or so

Ohio State's 2014 Dream Team: Defense (espn insider)

DE- Da'Shawn Hand
DT- Elisha Shaw
NT- Solomon Thomas
DE- Lorenzo Carter
OLB- Clifton Garrett
MLB- Raekwon McMillan
OLB- Dillon Bates
CB- Jabrill Peppers
S- Quin Blanding
S- Montae Nicholson
CB- Jalen Tabor

Scout $ - Harris Feels the Love at MSU '14 MI WR Drake Harris

• Recaps his visit for the MSU/UM basketball game. Will visit Ohio State on 2/24 & Florida on 3/22. 

ESPN $ - ATH Chris Lammons adds two big offers '14 FL ATH Chris Lammons

• Talks about the Ohio State & Florida State offers. Says he's friends with Ryan Shazier & will definitely visit. 

ESPN $ - Top programs offer WR Saeed Blacknall '14 NJ WR Saeed Blacknall

• Offered by Coach Warriner. Says he loves Coach Meyer & what he's doing with the program. 

ESPN $ - Ohio State offers Georgia DT Chris Williams '14 GA DT Chris Williams

• 78 tackles, 17 for loss, 11 sacks, two deflections & one forced fumble last season. Also has offers from Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, South Carolina & Texas A&M. 

ESPN $ - Todd Kelly Jr. talks about latest visit '14 TN DB Todd Kelly Jr

• Visited tOSU with his parents & said everyone liked the visit. Down to Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, Duke, Florida, Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee, USC, Vanderbilt and possibly LSU due to recent interest. 

ESPN $ - Favorites beginning to emerge for Payne '14 DC CB D'Andre Payne

• Really likes Florida State & also favors Auburn, Clemson, Ohio State, Maryland, Michigan & Tennessee (no offer). Visiting Maryland later this month & would also like to visit Clemson & Tennessee. 

Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 2/13 - Elijah Hood names top five (lghl)

Ohio State's coaching staff often asks its players to give relentless effort on the field and in turn, the staff themselves set a good example by giving relentless effort on the recruiting front.

As of yesterday, the Buckeyes offered a pair of 2014 recruits, '14 4-star RB Joe Mixon and '14 4-star CB Stepheny Durham. Mixon is a 6'2", 195-pound running back from California and in 2012, rushed for 1,100 yards for 24 touchdowns. Durham checks in at 5'11", 185-pounds and is from the state of Florida. While Urban Meyer has previously stated that he wants to start recruiting the state of Ohio a bit more than they have in the past, there's no harm in trying to send feelers out to other states with top prospects, either.

Some interesting news came from '14 5-star LB Raekwon McMillan recently, as McMillan told reporters that he now plans on announcing in the fall($), and will choose to enroll early to whichever school he ends up picking. It should be noted that McMillan plans on visiting Ohio State this spring (maybe for the spring game?) and will most likely have picked his top school and know his top five at that point. Keep in mind that if McMillan is planning on having a leader near the same time he visits Ohio State, you have to wonder if he's looking at the world through scarlet-colored glasses.

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Ohio State recruiting: Jalyn Holmes, '14 VA 4-Star DE/TE, talks Buckeyes (lghl)

Coach Urban Meyer's 2014 recruiting class is expected to target an unusually large number of non-Ohio prospects, especially when compared to the strategy forming his stellar 2013 class. Examining the recruiting activity along East coast, the state of Virginia is the home of an elite dual-threat prospect whom the Buckeyes are seriously interested in and have offered a scholarship.

The 6-5, 225-pound 4-star TE/DE Jalyn Holmes grades out a 97 overall, is ranked the 57th best overall player in the country, the absolute best weak-side defensive end prospect in the country, and the 5th best overall player in his home state of Virginia, according to 247Sports' Composite Rankings. Additionally, Jalyn was just recently ranked #30 in the 2014 Rivals top 100 prospects rankings. Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk, VA serves as the current home for this special prospect, and Jalyn and I spoke at length to discuss Ohio State, his recruiting process, and much, much more:

cont...

Meyer's recruiting momentum building at OSU (fox sports ohio)

AKRON, Ohio - Now that Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary running back Parris Campbell has given his verbal pledge to Ohio State, he goes from recruit to recruiter.

Last Sunday afternoon, Campbell visited Ohio State for the second time in four weeks. By the time he got to head coach Urban Meyer's office and a formal offer was extended, Campbell was ready to accept.

Meyer is so good at this part of the game that Campbell was the third 2014 recruit to give a commitment that day, just four days after National Signing Day for the class of 2013 was completed. Ohio State brought home Scout.com's top-ranked class nationally in 2013, and the additions of Campbell, offensive lineman Kyle Trout of Lancaster, Ohio and defensive end Lawrence Marshall of Southfield, Mich., are the kind that can help the next class attain similar acclaim.

cont...

Best classes by position- defense (247sports)

The class of 2013 is quickly becoming a distant memory with the class of 2014 junior days and commitments fully underway. With that said, now that all of the headlining prospects have signed (Arizona defensive back Priest Willis to UCLA was the last one), it’s time to take a look at the best classes by position on defense.

Defensive Line


There are a number of tremendous defensive line hauls in the 2013 class, but the pick here goes to Auburn. Nobody had a better close the last week of signing day than the Tigers solidifying the commitment of five-star weak-side defensive end Carl Lawson (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) and picking up national signing day signatures from five-star prospects Montravius Adams (Vienna, Ga./Dooly County) and Elijah Daniel (Avon, Ind.). Add in mid-term junior college defensive tackle prospect Ben Bradley (Hutchinson, Kan./Hutchinson C.C.), and Auburn behind the impressive work of Rodney Garner put together an uber talented four-man class.

Both Florida and LSU made serious run here. The Gators inked seven defensive line prospects, while Les Miles and staff signed the same number; including five four-star prospects.

Also considered – Ohio State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama and others.

cont...

Charlotte Catholic’s Elijah Hood top junior football recruit in Carolinas (charlotte observer)

Charlotte Catholic running back Elijah Hood is the highest-ranked player from the Carolinas in the rivals.com rankings of the class of 2014.

Hood, a 6-foot-1, 215-pounder, ranks No. 12 overall. He’s listed as an “athlete” because he is being recruited at running back and linebacker.

Hood rushed for a Mecklenburg County record 3,309 yards and a record 48 touchdowns last season, leading Catholic to the N.C. 3AA state championship game.

Other area players on the list were Davidson Day quarterback Will Grier (No. 18), Providence lineman Bentley Spain (No. 86) and Charlotte Christian tight end Jeb Blazevich (No. 164)

cont...

Gainesville's Deshaun Watson ranked as nation's top QB (gainsville times)

Mitchell Earns POY Honors (scout)

Plano, TX, February 13, 2013 – On Saturday, February 9, 2013, Prestonwood Christian Academy Senior Linebacker Mike Mitchell was awarded the Texas Built Ford Tough Player of the Year Award for private schools.

Mitchell racked up 190 tackles, four sacks, seven quarterback pressures, five forced fumbles and also had a 100-yard kickoff return. During the regular football season, Mitchell was named as the Texas Built Ford Tough Player of the Week.

“We are extremely proud of Mike for receiving the Ford Built Tough Texas High School Player of the Year Award. This is an award that not only takes into account what is done on the field, but who the young man is off the field as well. I don’t think there is anyone more deserving than Mike based on this criteria,” states Head Football Coach Chris Cunningham.

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Thompson to the rescue (rivals)

Running backs and receivers trying to cross the middle of the field aren't the only people future Ohio State football player Jayme Thompson enjoys stopping in their tracks.

Thompson, a prized recruit out of Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic High School who signed with Ohio State last week, put his physical nature to use on Monday night to help defuse what could have escalated into a very serious situation.

The senior safety and his father were outside a grocery store close to their Toledo home when a man, allegedly under the influence, started causing some problems for a police officer in the parking lot.

"A car came speeding up," Thompson said. "It was going unusually fast, and we kept looking at the guy. The guy gets out of the car and just didn't look right. I just told my Dad, 'Hey, we have to stay here and watch this,' and the cop tried to go over and talk to him. I saw the cop try and grab the guy, and he like tried to swing out of his jacket so we just ran up and helped the sheriff put the cuffs on the guy and waited for the other cops to come."

Much like on the football field, where Thompson is asked to see the offensive plays happen before they actually develop, this was a situation in which he saw the direction things were headed and felt he needed to take action.

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Video: Clifton Garrett at Core 6 Showcase (scout)

Plainfield South (Ill.) class of 2014 linebacker Clifton Garrett showed why he's one of the best and has quite a few major offers.
Clifton Garrett profile

Garrett has major offers, largely because of the closing speed and hard hitting style he shows on tape. At the Core 6 Showcase, he was taken out of that comfort zone with pads off, but still managed to put on an impressive performance, walking away with the overall MVP award for the day: