The Hurry Up: New 2016 Defensive Back Offer, Continuing the Chase for Wide Receivers and More

By Jeremy Birmingham on October 19, 2015 at 7:45 pm
Florida wide receiver Binjimen Victor during Ohio State's game against Penn State.
Binjimen Victor
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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.


YOUNG ADDS BUCKEYE OFFER DURING OFFICIAL VISIT

On Friday, Coconut Creek, Florida, defensive back Malek Young made the decision to visit Ohio State – for an official visit – this weekend. It appears that for Young, a three-star cornerback ranked as the country's 41st best, made a wise decision.

Young made the trip to Columbus with his teammate Binjimen Victor and the pair just left Columbus about an hour ago. 

While the details about Young's commitment status moving forward are fuzzy at best, it's safe to say that he'd not have made this trip – and a planned trip to Auburn in the future – unless he was seriously considering decommitting from Georgia, where he's been verballed to since April. 

The timing of this offer is especially curious as it pertains to Pittsburgh's Damar Hamlin, who visited Notre Dame this past weekend and is slated for an official to Ohio State on November 21st. Hamlin's good friend, 2017 defensive back Paris Ford, committed to Pitt on Friday and it's been long rumored that the two are a package deal. Does Ford's early commitment to the Panthers maybe push Hamlin even more towards staying home? 

Either way, the offer to Young means that the Buckeyes aren't standing pat.

BRUCE, VICTOR HIGHLIGHT THE WEEKEND AND THE NEED FOR WIDE RECEIVERS

Sam Bruce, a four-star wide receiver committed to Miami, made his official visit to Ohio State this weekend, coming north with teammate Nick Bosa. Bruce, 5-foot-8 and 180-pounds, is not the big, tall outside wide receiver that's needed to round out this year's recruiting class, but he's really good and a player that the Buckeyes would love to land. 

I talked to a few people today and the feeling is that while Bruce is still going to be quite a challenge to land (his family is really gung-ho on him staying close to home) there's some optimism from the Buckeyes that they are much more of a player in his recruitment than some might think.

Bruce has been committed to the Hurricanes since July of 2014 but there's at least some thought that the potential of a coaching change in Coral Gables could change things. 

To reiterate what I mentioned last night on Binjimen Victor – who is the big, tall, outside wide receiver Ohio State wants to round out the 2016 receiver class – there's a lot of positive vibes around the Coconut Creek star. 

I was told point blank today that Ohio State feels they'll land Victor, so that's about as positive as it gets. 

As the 2015 season unwinds, the need for wide receivers – true wide receivers – in the locker room at Ohio State becomes more and more evident. There's no doubt Victor and Bruce were made very aware of the depth issues moving forward.

WARRIOR SCHEDULES OFFICIAL VISIT

Ohio State was the first school to offer Atlanta's Nigel Warrior in 2014 and he's now set up his official visit to the school, as first reported today by BuckeyeGrove.com analyst Marc Givler. 

Warrior, the country's fourth-ranked safety, has maintained publicly for months that the Buckeyes are among his favorite schools and has insisted that they would receive an official visit and has now followed through and scheduled his trip for the November 21st game against Michigan State.

Ohio State has their ace recruiter, Kerry Coombs, working the Atlanta area and he's got his work cut out for him as he tries to land the 5-foot-11, 190 pound Warrior, who is the son of former Kansas City Chief and Tennessee Volunteer Dale Carter. Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Auburn are among the teams fighting hard to land the country's 56th-ranked overall 2016 prospect.

LAMONT WADE RECAPS HIS VISIT TO OHIO STATE

Ohio State has defensive back commitments in the 2017 class, but how many? That depends on who you ask. Some will say two – Shaun Wade and Marcus Williamson – while others will say "no, they've got four" because the recruiting profiles of guys like Isaiah Pryor and Brendon White say "safety" on them. Whatever the number actually is, Lamont Wade and his father are paying attention.

"We like Ohio State a lot," Carlton Wade, the father of the 2017 four-star defensive back told 11W. "It depends on how many defensive backs they bring in. We enjoyed our visit (this past weekend), it was great."

For Lamont Wade himself, this recent trip to Ohio State was business as usual. He spent time with the Buckeye coaching staff, checked out the academic side of the school and took a look at how the players live on campus.

"It was a good trip," Lamont told 11W. "I spent most of it with my family, being on campus a bit. It was good to see how it was set up, the dorms and things like that."

As for the game? Wade said it's up there with great atmospheres he took in during trips to Penn State and Tennessee.

"I've been to a couple 100,000-plus seat stadiums this year," Wade said. "It was right up there with the rest. I talked to (Luke) Fickell before and after the game. I'll hopefully be back for the Michigan State game."

Ohio State leads on the 247Sports.com crystal ball predictions.

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