The Hurry Up: Continuing to Review Big Visitors for the Weekend, Simmons Narrowing Timeline and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on October 14, 2015 at 7:45 pm
Isaiah Pryor will visit Ohio State this weekend
Isaiah Pryor
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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.


BIG TIME 2017 DEFENSIVE BACKS IN COLUMBUS THIS WEEKEND

Yesterday afternoon, Lamont Wade, perhaps the top uncommitted defensive back prospect on Ohio State's 2017 recruiting board, dropped the news that he'd be in Columbus this weekend.

Wade has had a busy few weeks. He visited West Virginia at the end of September and checked out Tennessee last weekend. The Buckeyes continue to be right at the top of the list and this weekend's trip will be the first of what should be two visits for Wade this season. He's also expected to be in town on November 21st when Ohio State takes on Michigan State.

Eleven Warriors also learned today that Isaiah Pryor, the country's 36th-ranked player in the 2017 class, will be in Columbus this weekend as well. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Pryor, who committed to the Buckeyes in late July, will be making his first visit since his commitment.

What will be interesting to watch is if Pryor is able to bring along his four-star teammate, athlete Jamyest Williams, one of the most dynamic prospects in the 2017 class nationally.

Williams, the 63rd-ranked player in his class, told me he's hoping to make the visit with Pryor. It would be his first trip to Columbus.

"Ohio State shows me a lot of love," Williams told 11W. "I'm trying to get up for the Penn State game."

I'll have more with Williams in tomorrow night's Hurry Up.

GRIMES WON'T MAKE TRIP

One of the country's top 2017 prospects, Fort Lauderdale's Trevon Grimes, has had a number of planned trips to Ohio State fall through in the last few months and it appears that will once again be the case this weekend.

Grimes, who was expected to visit Columbus with 2016 teammates Nick Bosa and Sam Bruce (who will both be making their official visits) likely will not make the trip, according to his father.

"It doesn't look like he'll make it," Lebron Grimes told 11W. 

Another South Florida source shed a bit more light on the situation and gave a bit of insight into when the Buckeyes should expect to see Grimes, the top-ranked wide receiver in his class.

"It's homecoming weekend," the source said. "As of last week, (Trevon) wasn't planning on going up. He might go with Nick (Bosa) to the Michigan State game."

If you were basing Grimes' interest in the Buckeyes solely off his visit history, you might consider that he's not as close to committing as the rumors have indicated. According to the same sources in Florida, that's not accurate and the Buckeyes are absolutely the team to beat, it's just a matter of getting the time and opportunity to make it up to Columbus again.

ANTJUAN SIMMONS VISITING MICHIGAN FOLLOWING OHIO STATE TRIP

One of the faster-rising prospects in the 2017 class is Ann Arbor athlete Antjuan Simmons, a 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from Pioneer High School. Simmons added almost a dozen offers in the last two weeks, including opportunities from Ohio State and most recently, Michigan State. He checked out the Buckeyes last weekend, making his first gameday visit to Columbus.

From Bleacher Report recruiting analyst Sanjay Kirpalani:

“The visit was really good. I got to talk with the whole coaching staff and my boy [current Buckeyes freshman running back] Mike Weber,” Simmons told Bleacher Report. “Me and him train together with Coach [Daryl] Graham. Overall, it was just a really good visit. I got to see what it's like on campus on game day. I got to see the campus and all of that type of stuff.”

Can the Buckeyes make a push for this soon-to-be star from Michigan? They're doing their best to keep him from spending too much time down the street at Michigan Stadium.

"They just want me to make it back down to campus more often and get away from the Big House as much as I can and to stay in touch with them,” Simmons said with a chuckle.

Unfortunately for the Ohio State staff, Simmons will visit Michigan – who has not offered yet – for their huge home game against Michigan State this Saturday. It'd be a fairly decent-sized shock if he leaves campus without an offer from the Wolverines this weekend.

KOBI SIMMONS CONTINUES TO CHECK OUT HIS TOP THREE

Although UNLV recently added a commitment from another 2016 guard (Jaylen Fisher), that's not impacting the decision that five-star point guard Kobi Simmons has to make. 

From Cleveland.com writer Bill Landis

Simmons' father, Demond Stephens, told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Wednesday night that Fisher's commitment to UNLV was "expected", and that UNLV is still in the running. So Ohio State is still in a battle with two other schools for the No. 3 combo guard in the country.

HoopSeen.com talked to Simmons yesterday and he went a bit more in-depth about his upcoming – yet not determined – decision. Here is what Simmons said about his recent official visit to Ohio State.

“D’Angelo Russell was there on the visit and so were Evan Turner and Mike Conley. D’Angelo was telling me about the experience and I would love to be there to experience the basketball and a college life like that.”

What's next? A decision.

After visiting all of his final schools, Simmons is set on selecting UNLV, Kentucky, or Ohio State, yet a timetable for a decision has yet to be set. “Just when I am ready. Right now, we have a long season to go and I want to focus on that and just take it one day at a time. It is a big decision.”

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