Recruiting Updates: Alabama Rolls, Burrell, Clark, DeBerry, Edwards and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on April 20, 2014 at 12:00 pm
58 Comments

Welcome to the holiday edition, folks. I am sure you're all busy today doing family stuff so I won't bore you with introductions, because we all know one another, right? Here's what you need to know about this weekend's happenings in alphabetical order.

ALABAMA AND AUBURN annihilate

I've seen good recruiting days. Ohio State has had good recruiting days, I mean, just a little over a year ago Kyle Trout, Parris Campbell and eventual decommit Lawrence Marshall all committed to Ohio State within ten minutes of each other. That said, what Alabama did yesterday borders on the absurd. 

Nick Saban collected commitments from two five-star players (CB Minkah Fitzpatrick and WR Calvin Ridley,) two four-star players (DB Shawn Burgess-Becker and LB Leo Lewis) and will likely add another commitment from wide receiver Jovon Durante, who is currently committed to West Virginia. Not bad for a Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Oh yeah, huge Buckeye target Damien Harris was on hand for this commit-fest as well, but as of now he's fought off the urge to commit to O.J. Simpson (joke explanation here.) The Tide now have 13 commitments for 2015.

Down the dusty road from Tuscaloosa, Auburn had themselves a day as well. The Tigers made a big impression on 2016 Buckeye wide receiver target Nate Craig, in fact the potential 2016 five-star left claiming Auburn had moved into the lead for his recruitment. Oh yeah, Auburn also flipped Ben Edwards from Ohio State

BURRELL BEGINS BUCKEYE BANTER

A late addition to Ohio State's recruiting weekend, things couldn't have gone better with Matthew Burrell than they did. The Buckeyes made a major impression on Burrell and Ricky DeBerry, Jr., who he made the trip north with. 

A source close to the recruitment told Eleven Warriors that the "Crystal Ball" needs to be trending towards Ohio State for Burrell, and subsequently, it's started to. Burrell has been effusive with his praise for the visit, requesting immediate conversations with fellow Buckeye targets Chris Clark and Torrance Gibson, each of whom obliged. 

Whether or not Ohio State gets a commitment anytime soon from Burrell, I can't say. I know he's got a visit planned to Alabama soon, but the Buckeyes definitely moved themselves way up on his list.

CLARK'S COLUMBUS CRUSADE

It finally happened, Chris Clark visited the Buckeyes. The 6-foot-6, 247 pound tight end from Connecticut, formerly a North Carolina commit, had been discussing a trip to Buckeye country for some time and he — along with his father — finally made the visit. It came a day after the Clarks visited Michigan in Ann Arbor, another key visit as the nation's fifth-ranked tight end tries to situate his recruitment.

So what next? 

The visit went very well. The Buckeyes are likely to get another visit from Clark, and his mother, in the next month or so. The bad news? So will Brady Hoke and Michigan. He and his family will want to make return trips to each place before making a decision, which he hopes happens in June.

Stay tuned.

DEBERRY'S DAD DISCUSSES DECISION

As eluded to, Ricky DeBerry made his own long anticipated visit to Columbus on Thursday and Friday as well. While he's not near a decision at this point, DeBerry's father told 11W that this trip went better than they had hoped.

"It was very impressive," the elder DeBerry said. "More than we thought."

What stood out to him and his family?

"Meeting with Urban Meyer, the guy is so down-to-earth," he said of the Buckeyes head man. "His staff, the campus and the winning tradition there. Larry Johnson, Sr. is a great man."

DeBerry says he and his son will definitely be back to Ohio State, potentially for an official visit.

"We're going back for a game," DeBerry said of a possible return. "We're discussing whether or not it will be an official right now."

58 Comments
View 58 Comments