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.
JUSTIN HILLIARD VISITING IOWA
Last night, Justin Hilliard took to Twitter and posted what appeared to be an innocuous tweet about a weekend visit to Iowa.
IOWA CITY THIS WEEKEND
— Justin Hilliard (@JHilliard47) October 6, 2014
It was then revealed shortly thereafter that his weekend visit to Iowa City was not just a visit to check on his brother, C.J. (A freshman at Iowa) but would in fact be an official visit to the University of Iowa. With that came the obvious flood of worry, handwringing and rampant speculation. Is Justin Hilliard, the crown jewel of Ohio State's 2015 recruiting class and de facto leader considering a flip?
I'll try and answer this as diplomatically as possible, because in the world of recruiting anything is possible: don't count on it. Yes, the visit isn't something Ohio State is thrilled about, but that's the case anytime a player committed to your school checks out another location. However, Hilliard cleared the trip with the Buckeyes and they think he's as firmly committed to Ohio State as any player who's not legally bound to be a Buckeye could be.
Family ties in Iowa City are strong and Hilliard is getting a free trip there to see his brother, and a weekend with a coaching staff he's very close with. Is that enough reason to be concerned? I don't think so, and right now there's no reason to turn this visit into a large-scale worrying situation.
VIRGINIA IS FOR RECRUITING
With the Buckeyes' off-week, Ohio State's coaches were able to get back on the road this week and did just that. Earlier in the week, Ed Warinner traveled west to Utah, Tom Herman west to Texas, and Zach Smith southeast, to Virginia. The Buckeyes are hoping to make their presence a big one in the commonwealth, and Smith was in a number of schools talking to a number of prospects, primarily in the 2016 class.
Defensive backs Wayne Davis, Jr., Levonta Taylor, and Robbie Robinson all had Smith roaming their hallways on Monday, and all three are already in possession of an Ohio State offer. Davis, who visited the Horseshoe on September 28th against Cincinnati, is a former high school teammate of Buckeye freshman Jalyn Holmes at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk.
If you're wondering why Smith didn't visit Matt Burrell, it's because he couldn't: the Buckeyes used their visit to the school two weeks ago.
Oh yeah, there was also a stop at Chesapeake, Virginia's Oscar Smith High School, the home of the nation's top overall prospect Josh Sweat. Sweat, who was in New York prepping for season-ending knee surgery, was not in attendance but the Buckeyes wanted him to know they were there.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
While Zach Smith visited Virginia, Urban Meyer made a trip of his own: he visited Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The primary reason was to stop in on St. Thomas Aquinas High School, where a number of Buckeye targets suit for the Raiders, including 2016 defensive end Nick Bosa. Bosa is hardly the only player there worth seeing, STA also boasts 2015 stars Jordan Scarlett, Damon Arnette, 2016 wide receiver Sam Bruce and 2017 wide receiver Trevon Grimes, all of whom have been offered by Ohio State.
Scarlett is a player of particular interest right now, especially as the Buckeyes' confidence in Damien Harris could be waning. The Miami Hurricane commit has already made an official visit to Ohio State this season, and the Buckeyes remain very interested in the 5-foot-11, 210 pound running back.
AUDIBLES
Ohio State quarterback commitment Joe Burrow's season numbers have started to garner some national attention.
Ohio State QB commit Joe Burrow (@Joe_Burrow10) through six games: 2,200 total yards, 76% completion, 30 TDs, 1 INT. pic.twitter.com/BcPGi5WwQu
— Tyler Donohue (@TDsTake) October 7, 2014
Buckeye wide receiver target Christian Kirk finalized two more official visits today: to UCLA and Arizona State. That is now four officials solidified for Kirk, who's already been to Texas A&M and Auburn. That makes it less and less likely for Ohio State to work their way back into the fifth official visit and his recruitment. Might be time to put this one to bed.
How weird is recruiting? Consider this tweet from a Kentucky fan to Damien Harris a few days back:
The Lock Screen pic.twitter.com/971FZO1538
— Drew Roc (@Derek_Rogers_) October 7, 2014
The effort to showcase #BBN and their affection for the nation's top-ranked running back didn't go unnoticed by one Buckeye fan. Beware: incoming snark detected.
@Derek_Rogers_ @Damien_D1Harris hey Damien, will you do me this honor and be a Buckeye? pic.twitter.com/kLHE2EciVT
— Justin Thomas (@PuddlesCLE) October 8, 2014
Welcome to the new age of recruiting.
