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.
WHITE'S HUGE RATINGS JUMP WON'T LEAD TO COMPLACENCY
With the newest update to the 247Sports.com rankings, Olentangy Liberty's Brendon White, one of the Buckeyes' 11 commitments for 2017, made a major jump up the list. White went from No. 258 in the country all the way up No. 48, making him one of the site's biggest movers. The 247 update doesn't give away much about the reasoning that led to the bump.
There are some talented big safeties in this class and this Ohio State commit is going to have a chance to prove he's the best of the bunch.
Certainly Ohio State, who offered last summer, believes White has the potential to be a gamechanger on the defense, but what's really helped the Buckeye legacy skyrocket through the charts? White has no idea, and in truth, he's not that interested.
"I couldn't tell you why," White said of the boost. "They probably just watched my film. I'm just busy working out and playing basketball."
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is staying active on the hardwood, but his future is on the gridiron and the key now is making sure that, even with the new accolades and attention, that he stays focused and continues to grow his game.
"I'm still going to be on my grind," White said, eschewing the notion that the recognition could lend to laziness. "All that matters is trying to get on the field to play and helping my team win by contributing."
NEW 2018 OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OFFERED
The Buckeyes have extended a new 2018 scholarship offer, this one to Tampa offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere.
I am grateful to have received an offer from Ohio State University for football. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/DWbZO6ANFJ
— Nicholas Petit-Frere (@NicholasPetit) February 18, 2016
Listed at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, Petit-Frere may be the grande fromage at Berkeley Preparatory High School, but it's clear that his frame will need to add some weight before college. Still, there's a reason an Ohio State offer comes this early, and it's because the coaching staff sees a game and mentality they value.
Petit-Frere also plays defensive end for Berkeley Prep, as well as basketball.
Ohio State's has offered one in-state 2018 offensive lineman, Fairfield's Jack Carman and new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa will be looking all over the country for the next wave of Slobs.
SHOULD RECRUITS BE SUBJECTED TO BACKGROUND CHECKS?
Wednesday, the top story in South Florida was that Miami Hurricanes signee Sam Bruce had left St. Thomas Aquinas High School in light of a scandal involving a photograph that included the wide receiver brandishing a weapon and the allusion to threats of violence. While there doesn't appear to be any possibility (at this point) that Bruce's career is in imminent danger of being derailed, the situation will certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth of many and should serve as a warning to others in a similar position.
In January, as the Buckeyes were back and forth on the possibility of bringing the electric Bruce into their 2016 recruiting class, a number of factors were considered before ultimately deciding against it. As colleges prepare to offer scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to recruits, things like academics, off-the-field issues, medical concerns and more need to be taken into account because these investments are massive.
Colleges do not have access to medical evaluations of prospects like they do academic records, but should they consider or require background checks to scour for potential legal trouble? Some think that's an option to be considered.
Dalvin Cook, who has faced legal issues while at Florida State, was arrested several times before ever arriving in Tallahassee. Florida law makes some juvenile arrests accessible to the public, but documents obtained by ESPN showed that no college formally requested copies of Cook's arrest records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement prior to offering him a scholarship.
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said figuring out who is worth the risk is "the hardest thing you'll do."
"You have to draw the line somewhere," he said. "There's a point where the guy doesn't want to help himself or it's too big of an issue for me. You're saying, 'Even though I want to help this kid, I can't expose my program to that.'"
Cook, who has had legal troubles in his time at Florida State, may not have been recruited by anyone if a thorough background check was done during his recruitment.
The issues, both ethically and financially, when it comes to executing a full background check on a 16-year-old kid, are copious, but is it worth it and does it actually stop a program from taking a chance on a player if his talent is "next level?" Consider this: only TCU and Oklahoma, who welcomed Dorial Green-Beckham into their program after being kicked out of Missouri and failed to do much of anything to star running back Joe Mixon following an assault charge prior to enrolling at the school, require checks for all their athletes.
Thoughts? Should background checks be included as a standard practice when it comes to recruiting? Is it possible to do them thoroughly and without bias or blatant stereotyping?
MICHIGAN AND BUSH OFFICIAL
We talked about it a week or so ago, but Thursday it's official: two weeks after signing three Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Florida) stars, the University of Michigan has brought former Flanagan head coach Devin Bush Sr. to their coaching staff.
Breaking: Hollywood, Fla./Flanagan coach Devin Bush Sr. hired as Defensive Analyst for #Michigan. https://t.co/uplMVp3fNY @TremendousUM
— Ryan Bartow (@RyanBartow) February 18, 2016
Bush, who played at Florida State, has an impressive football resume and acumen and is certainly qualified for this promotion, though one has to wonder–as has been discussed–if his ability to help bring South Florida talent to Ann Arbor (like Chris Partridge and New Jersey) plays a major role in this hiring.
