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.
KMET CHOOSES NOTRE DAME
Last weekend, Illinois' 2017 tight end Cole Kmet made a surprise visit to Ohio State and subsequently informed 11W and others that he'd be making a decision about his future soon after that. That decision came today when Kmet, the country's sixth-ranked tight end, committed to Notre Dame.
Earlier this week, I had mentioned that Ohio State felt "good" about where they stood with Kmet, but that in general they knew they were working uphill and that turned out to be the case. For Buckeye fans, it's another in an increasing series of blows struck by the Irish against Ohio State in head-to-head recruiting, even if the odds were never really in Urban Meyer's favor here.
Kmet is from Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, which is an obviously pro-Notre Dame area. He and his family are catholic, which gives Notre Dame an edge, and above all that, the Irish throw the ball to their tight ends and that's an area the Buckeyes continue to struggle with. Some may suggest that if Ohio State had better pass-catching tight ends, they'd throw the ball to them more, but that's moot.
Ohio State will continue to recruit Kmet, at least from a distance. He's the guy identified by Urban Meyer's staff as the best overall fit for what they want in a tight end in the 2017 class. The Irish have now landed two top five tight ends in the 2017 class (Kmet joins Brock Wright, from Texas) and although Ohio State is near the top of the list for Cincinnati's Matt Dotson, he's no slam dunk for the Buckeyes.
There's also a train of thought from a number of folks that if Notre Dame's season continues on its current path that Brian Kelly could very well bolt for the NFL after the year, and that could change some things in both 2016 and 2017.
OKUDAH HAS BUCKEYES IN FRONT
The country's top-ranked 2017 safety is Grand Prairie, Texas five-star Jeffrey Okudah, a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder who visited Ohio State this past summer. Yesterday Okudah talked with 11W and confirmed that he's making a return to Columbus in November; he'd previously been unsure if he'd make the trip for the upcoming Penn State game instead.
"I'll be there for the Michigan State game," Okudah said. "Tickets are purchased."
In recent weeks, Okudah has told me that he's been in contact with Ohio State's staff "constantly" and it's clear that at least for the time being that persistence is paying off for the Buckeyes.
#ESPNJr300 No. 10 @TheJeffOkudah names #OhioState his leader over #Stanford #Noles & #Gigem...going to #TCU game Sat pic.twitter.com/Ca0cmf2B8E
— Gerry Hamilton (@HamiltonESPN) October 1, 2015
His 247Sports crystal ball is led by Baylor, but right now it's the Buckeyes out in front. Ohio State has the country's top-ranked 2017 recruiting class and Okudah's second trip to Columbus in five months, both on his own dime, can't be overlooked. I'm not going to expect a commitment anytime soon, but there's a definite legitimacy to his Ohio State interest.
GILL HIGHLIGHTS
It's midseason for most of the area's high school football teams and in a lot of cases that means that midseason highlights are making their way into public view. One of those players I've been most interested in seeing is Westerville South's Jaelen Gill, the electric 2018 running back from Columbus.
Jaelen Gill 2007 Texans #21 TD
Posted by Shelly Bennett Gill on Thursday, October 1, 2015
Wait, I'm sorry, that's the wrong highlight. That is a much younger version of Gill, obviously.
Here's his 2015 tape and it's a good glimpse into why he's an early choice as a top-20 prospect nationally.
Gill has excellent speed, shifty feet and is an extremely natural pass-catcher. While he lines up at running back for the Wildcats, I'm interested to see if he develops into a Jalin Marshall-type of college player as he gets bigger and stronger.
The 6-foot-tall, 170-pounder was also recently spotlighted by Rivals.com analyst Adam Friedman as one of his "Future Five."
From Rivals.com:
Who's Interested: Ohio State, Michigan State, Tennessee and many others have already offered Gill.
What's Interesting: The Buckeyes have had Ohio on lockdown for a while now and they already have a commitment from Gill's teammate, 2017 Rivals100 defensive back Marcus Williamson. Gill has also visited Ohio State multiple times. It certainly sounds like the Buckeyes are in great shape to land a commitment from Gill, but visits to Michigan State, Penn State and Tennessee could open his eyes to all the other schools that are out there.
BUCKEYES TAKING ON THE HOOSIER STATE
Ohio State is one of the few college football programs that can go wherever they want to do their recruiting, and every so often their travels require a short trip west to Indiana. Today, Buckeye Sports Bulletin cherub Ryan Ginn tackled that topic and I felt it was interesting and worth sharing.
From Ryan Ginn:
1. Unlike most Midwest states, basketball rules Indiana.
Ohio State tight ends coach Tim Hinton came to Columbus following a stint at Notre Dame, and he said it doesn’t take long to notice which sport takes a priority in Indiana.
“Administratively, community-wise, it always struck me when I went into Indiana that they have gymnasiums and arenas that are off the charts,” he said. “The football facilities are nice, but the basketball arenas are like, ‘Wow!’ In Ohio, the nicest ones are football stadiums. I think the emphasis sometimes changes. It doesn’t mean there aren’t good players there, because there are. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t recruit the state, because you absolutely should. It doesn’t mean the quality of high school isn’t good, because it is.”
Ohio State has two current players from Indiana – senior Joel Hale and redshirt freshman Terry McLaurin – and one on the way in 2016, wide receiver Austin Mack. Mack is the Hoosier state's second-ranked prospect in his class: Michigan State has a pledge from Auston Robertson, ranked No. 1. Michigan has verbals from Brandon Peters and Chris Evans, ranked third and fourth respectively. That brings us to another of Ginn's points.
4. It helps to not have to worry about Indiana, and especially not worry about Purdue.
Over the last 10 completed recruiting cycles (2006-15), Indiana has produced 41 four- or five-star athletes according to Scout.com. Five have signed with Indiana. Zero have signed with Purdue. Zero. In the last decade, the Boilermakers haven’t signed anyone better than a three-star in their own state. As you may have surmised, that is not good.
Notre Dame, with their own broad national appeal, hasn't had to rely on their home state for recruiting success, but they – like the Buckeyes – can pinpoint that state's best and attack vigorously knowing there's little competition.
6. In the end, it’s all about picking your spots.
Recruiting success comes down to how schools choose to allocate their resources. At the end of the day, it doesn’t make sense for Ohio State to spend as much time in Indiana as in Georgia or Florida. The good news is that the talent tends to be concentrated, which makes it easier for the coaching staff to make the rounds.
“The nice thing is that you’re talking about recruiting two pockets of talent in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne,” Trieu said. “You can crank through both of those areas if you spend one day in each during the recruiting period. It shouldn’t be super time-consuming.”
Ohio State will never be omnipresent, but the Buckeyes can choose their spots and make a play for top kids in years where the talent is on an upswing.
Like I said, I found this story interesting and it's a free read, so give it a look.
