The Hurry Up: Finalizing the Offensive Line, Gustin Still Thinking Visit and More.

By Jeremy Birmingham on January 19, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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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.


WARIBOKO RUMORS

Towards the end of last week, rumors surrounding Oklahoma City offensive lineman Josh Wariboko and the Buckeyes began ramping up again. Wariboko, who visited Ohio State officially in mid-October, made waves after his trip with statements about the Buckeyes being at the top of his list. In fact, his "Crystal Ball" flooded with Scarlet and Gray in the days following his trip, but we never bought into the idea that he was serious about Ohio State. 

The rumors from last week were similar in nature. Wariboko was quoted as saying he wanted to make a return to Columbus sometime before signing day, but it's unknown as to when that might happen. For their part, the Buckeyes are interested but sources close to the Buckeyes have indicated to me that Georgia's Venzell Boulware remains ahead of Wariboko on the totem pole. Boulware, committed to Tennessee since August 23rd, will visit Columbus officially this coming weekend and the Buckeyes would absolutely take him if he was wanting to make a flip. 

With five (six if you count long-snapper Liam McCullough) offensive lineman already committed for 2015, the Buckeyes are certainly not in a position where they need to sign any other prospects at the spot, but Boulware's versatility keeps him ahead of most other remaining possibilities.

GUSTIN STILL PLANNING ON VISITING 

Ohio State is still hoping to land one or two big names on the defense for 2015 and as of now the top two targets are scheduled to visit the next two weekends. This week, it's Missouri defensive tackle Terry Beckner, Jr. who will head to Columbus on his official visit, with the Buckeyes likely trailing Missouri, Florida State and Auburn for a signature.  The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Beckner is the top remaining target on defense because he plays the defensive tackle position where the greatest need remains. 

Beyond Beckner, the scheduled January 30th visit for Utah linebacker/defensive end Porter Gustin looms largest for the future Silver Bullets. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Gustin could play linebacker or defensive end in college, and there's some thought that the Buckeyes' chances to land him are being underestimated nationally. Luke Fickell and Urban Meyer have done an excellent job maintaining their relationship with Gustin and his father and if he gets on campus you can expect that Ohio State makes a big push in the days leading up to signing day. USC is still considered the favorite for Gustin but Arizona State — where's visited officially and will return to this coming weekend — remains a viable threat as well.

DAILY UPDATE ON WEBER/GIBSON

It's Monday, January 19th and yes, Buckeye fans, Torrance Gibson and Michael Weber are still committed to Ohio State. Gibson caused a bit of a stir yesterday when he was quoted after his official visit to Auburn saying things had "changed a lot", which of course led to Ohio State fans on Twitter and elsewhere losing their collective mind for no reason at all. The four-star quarterback, unhappy with how his words were relayed by the media, went back to Twitter on his own later in the evening.

Later, Gibson decided that a media blackout might be his best course of action. 

Today, Auburn offensive coordinator made an in-home visit with Gibson, hoping to capitalize on any momentum gained by the Tigers this weekend. Ohio State remains optimistic that Gibson signs with the Buckeyes in two weeks and Zach Smith visited Gibson last Thursday night.

Weber, the Detroit Cass Tech standout, did absolutely nothing this weekend and that still resulted in a widespread Buckeye fan freakout. Yes, Michigan is trying to flip him, no he has not flipped, but sure, maybe he will. Right now, the Buckeyes are not aware of any change in his status and they are not ramping up their pursuit of any other tailback in 2015. 

That's where things stand today.

MCCALL IS FLAT OUT SILLY

We're slightly more than a full year away from signing day 2016 and the Buckeyes have verbal commitments from two of that classes top four running backs, Kareem Walker and George Hill. Enter Demario McCall, the third-ranked tailback in 2016, an Ohio native (like Hill) and the owner of one of the year's most ludicrous highlight tapes. 

Despite the early pledges by Walker and Hill, Ohio State is still aggressively pursuing McCall and are still the clear-cut frontrunner to land the 5-foot-11, 180 pound North Ridgeville star. 

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