The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
CAM AKERS PREPARING FOR OHIO STATE VISIT
When he visited Ohio State last summer for Friday Night Lights, Mississippi's Cam Akers didn't have a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes, though he earned it two months later. Unfortunately, in between that July visit and the September offer, Akers committed to the University of Alabama, a little school in Tuscaloosa that seems to really be building a decent football program.
Akers, 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, is a four-star prospect ranked as the country's third-best tailback, meaning that–when you team him up with Najee Harris (No. 1) and Brian Robinson (No. 15)–the Crimson Tide already had three of the nation's Top 15 ranked running backs for 2017.
I say "had" because Thursday Akers re-opened his recruitment and decommitted from the Crimson Tide.
— Cam akers (@thereal_cam3) March 3, 2016
When you consider the running back situation with Bama, it's not a major surprise that Akers has been exploring other options, one of which is Ohio State, where he'll visit this upcoming week.
The visit for Akers, which is supposed to take place early next week, is expected to be multiple days and will coincide with the Buckeyes' first spring football practices.
Bama RB commit Cam Akers plans to visit Ohio State, Tennessee, Auburn & Florida (VIP) https://t.co/M2DzZS67iJ pic.twitter.com/YTjjMqOkod
— Luke Stampini (@LukeStampini) March 2, 2016
The trip will give Ohio State a good opportunity to try and sway him away from his long list of suitors as they look for a second running back in 2017.
Two visits to Columbus on his own dime make this recruitment–similar to that of Georgia's Trey Sermon–really worth paying attention to moving forward.
2018 RUNNING BACK LIKES OHIO STATE
Speaking of big running backs preparing for an Ohio State visit, 2018 four-star TJ Pledger told BleacherReport.com he'll be heading to Columbus in June.
The early four-star, who checks in at 5-foot-9 and 188 pounds, hails from West Hills, California. He was offered by the Buckeyes in January following a visit to his school from Zach Smith.
A June visit likely means a camp performance, and with it, a chance for Pledger to see the Buckeyes, and how they operate, face-to-face. That's something he's looking forward to.
From Bleacher Report:
"Urban Meyer is a legend, so I really can't wait to go out there and see how the team prepares," he said.
Pledger is one of five 2018 running backs to hold a Buckeye offer.
OHIO STATE OFFERS IMG WIDE RECEIVER
One of the country's top 2018 wide receivers, Brian Hightower, was offered by Ohio State on Tuesday night.
Originally from Calabasas, California, Hightower transferred to the IMG Academy and will be a primary pass-catcher for the Ascenders this coming season.
At 6-foot-3 and almost 200 pounds, Hightower lists Alabama, who have offered, as his favorite school at the moment but with nearly two years until he an sign a letter of intent, there's plenty of time for the Buckeyes to build their relationship.
WILLIAMSON DISCUSSES RIVALS CAMP AND WHO HE'S RECRUITING
We caught up briefly with Buckeyes' commit Marcus Williamson earlier in this week and got his thoughts on Michigan at IMG.
The past two weeks have been busy for Williamson. He's participated in Nike's The Opening regional camp and earned an invite to their premier event in July two weekends ago, and last weekend earned a spot in the finals at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge. Dealing with nagging injuries most of last summer, Williamson didn't get a chance to really stand out at camps as he was expected to. That's clearly changing for 2016.
"I think I did pretty good," said Williamson after the camp. "The coaches had a lot of praise for me so that felt good. The last 12 months I've been battling some injuries and I'm feeling healthy now and it's nice to start seeing the fruits of my labor."
Williamson, now at IMG but originally from Westerville South, is around some of the country's best prospects daily, and he's working, albeit quietly, to try and show some of his new teammates why Ohio State is the best place for them.
"I've been working on (Josh) Kaindoh and (Rob) Hainsey," he said. "I think Ohio State speaks for itself, just need to get them to visit. I know Rob is coming up in the spring, I'm not sure yet about Kaindoh, we'll see where it goes."
The full article linked above has more quotes and video from Williamson in Orlando, so take a look.
