The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
BEST OF THE BEST
More than 300 of the top players in the state of Texas converged upon The Kinkaid School in Houston on Saturday for the first The Opening Regional event of 2017. Several Ohio State targets were in action, including:
- Angleton five-star safety B.J. Foster
- Houston Lamar five-star cornerback Anthony Cook
- Katy four-star defensive end Max Wright
- Yoakum four-star wide receiver Joshua Moore
- Missouri City Ridge Point four-star tight end Mustapha Muhammad
- Houston Alief Taylor four-star wide receiver Brennan Eagles
- Missouri City Fort Bend Marshall four-star offensive tackle Barton Clement
- Houston Dekaney four-star tight end Malcolm Epps
The players were measured and competed in the 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle relay and the vertical jump, all of which were added up and combined into a prospect’s SPARQ rating. Eagles was named the SPARQ ratings champion after posting a 4.51 40-yard dash, 3.95 shuttle and a 37-inch vertical jump.
Anthony Cook vs. Brennan Eagles pic.twitter.com/aprRrK5ZGv
— EJ Holland (@EJHolland247) February 4, 2017
Cook, meanwhile, had two interceptions and did not allow a single pass to be completed against him. He was named the event's most valuable player and was also the only player to shut down Eagles in one-on-one matchups.
Cook and Eagles both punched their tickets to The Opening Finals in July as a result.
Congrats on earning a spot in the premier football experience of the year. Welcome to #TheOpening Finals! #GOTOPEN pic.twitter.com/FvO0F59XeG
— The Opening (@TheOpening) February 4, 2017
BET HE'S ROOTING FOR THE FALCONS TONIGHT
McDonough, Georgia, Eagles Landing Christian three-star cornerback Tre' Douglas included Ohio State in his Top 12 on Sunday afternoon alongside Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Douglas is considered the 39th-best cornerback and the No. 394 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He recorded 34 tackles and three interceptions to help the Chargers to the Class A Private state championship.
Douglas visited Ohio State for the Nov. 26 double-overtime win over Michigan.
PLAYING CATCH-UP
Ohio State held commitments from 10 of the country's top prospects at this time last year, so it's understandable if you think the staff is a little behind when it comes to the Class of 2018. But if there's anything that could ease your mind about the Buckeyes' slow start, it's a quick glance at the early team rankings.
Ignore Penn State and scroll a little farther … and that's why you should take things with a grain of salt at this point in the process.
Kansas, the same program that's gone 9-51 over the last five years, sits an No. 9 overall after it landed commitments from SIX prospects during Junior Day on Saturday.
Kansas landed six commitments within 24 hours, and five of them are prospects out of Louisiana.
Four-star wide receiver Devonta Jason and 4-star cornerback Corione Harris are both from Landry-Walker High School in New Orleans. Four-star wide receiver JaMarr Chase and 3-star safety Aaron Blue are both from Archbishop Rummel in Metairie. And 3-star running back Anthony Williams is from Hahnville High School in Boutte, which wrapped up the Louisiana commits Beaty’s staff picked up.
The sixth member of that group of recruits who chose to be Jayhawks is 3-star quarterback Clayton Tune, from Carrollton, Texas.
For what it's worth, Ohio State is the highest-ranked two-pledge team at No. 19 overall with commitments from five-star quarterback Emory Jones and four-star running back Brian Snead. And to think of all of the targets left on the board.
