The Hurry Up: Huskers Emerging as West Coast Contenders, Cage Shouldn't Be Forgotten, Meyer Dishes on Ohio Recruiting

By Jeremy Birmingham on April 5, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Darnay Holmes at Ohio State last summer.
Darnay Holmes
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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.


RECRUITING OHIO: EASY, BUT NOT REALLY

When you're the undisputed king of your home state in college football, it's "easy" to recruit from inside your own borders.

Offer a recruit, he commits –– the end. Right? Kind of. 

The thing is, the recruiting calendar is way different than it used to be, and while Ohio State certainly isn't in jeopardy of losing any recruit they want to in-state competition, a number of schools from bordering states are realizing that, with a bit of early attention and "love" they're able to cut out the legs from the Buckeyes, at least temporarily. It happened last week when 2018 star Leonard Taylor picked Michigan, and it will happen more and more in the future as Urban Meyer's staff looks to recruit nationally so that they can compete nationally. Meyer addressed the challenges of recruiting in Ohio this morning during a post-practice press conference at the Woody Hayes.

"I think sometimes you have to offer a guy early out of state to get in the game and I leave more up to the position coaches who understand that area. If you want to get in the game sometimes you have to answer and sometimes you do that. I won't say it's positive or negative, but in-state you've just gotta be very cautious," Meyer said today. "Because when that offer goes out, you can't pull it. You're in it. Out of state if you offer a guy and he has a bunch other offers than you can just kind of move on. In Ohio you have to be very careful."

Meyer is aware that schools from around the country are using this strategy against the Buckeyes. Outsiders offer a player in Ohio, knowing they don't have to pursue/seriously chase a player but, in some way, it forces the Buckeyes to make a quicker-than-preferred decision sometimes.

"Some schools come in and offer, I can name off seven schools that offer probably 100 players in our state. We can't offer 100 players in our state," he added. "They'll come back and say 'why did we not offer this guy?' We certainly think he's a fine player, we're just a little slower to offer."

CAGE BEING OVERLOOKED?

One of the players in Ohio that the Buckeyes did offer early was Cincinnati (Winton Woods) 2017 defensive tackle Jerron Cage. The younger brother of Notre Dame sophomore Daniel Cage, the 6-foot-3, 275-pounder committed to Ohio State a month after the Buckeyes' extended that offer last summer. Since then, he's laid relatively low on the recruiting trail, though he did make two separate in-season visits to Notre Dame to see his brother and the Irish.

Cage is one of two defensive tackles committed to Ohio State, and the nation's 14th-ranked player at his position. Though the Buckeyes are still offering and evaluating other interior linemen, it's not because they're in any way unhappy with either of their current pledges.

"I think people are kind of forgetting Cage," one source told Eleven Warriors. "He was offered really early not because of Notre Dame, but because he can flat out play."

But...is there worry about Notre Dame?

"His brother is there, it's not something that can really be 'helped,'" the source said. "It's like when (Justin) Hilliard was visiting Iowa. You want to recruit kids who support and admire their family. He's got to be recruited all the way to February just like everyone else."

RILEY USING CALIFORNIA CONNECTIONS IN CALABASAS, HOLMES NEXT?

Two weeks ago, Nebraska landed a commitment from a player Ohio State fans have been familar with: Calabasas, California 2017 wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, Jr., the cousin of former Buckeye wideout Michael Thomas. The decision to commit to Nebraska seemed an odd one to people on the outside, as the country's 28th-ranked wide receiver lists offers from Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, his father's alma mater USC and more. 

Why Nebraska? Mike Riley, the second-year head coach of the Cornhuskers was the offensive coordinator at USC when the elder Johnson was making himself into the first overall pick of the 1996 NFL Draft, so the family ties and a very aggressive Nebraska recruiting approach made a lot of sense.

For the Huskers, the efforts have already paid extra dividends. Last night, four-star quarterback Tristan Gebbia, the eighth-ranked pro-style quarterback in the country, committed to join Johnson in Lincoln. Gebbia is Johnson's teammate at Calabasas and, with a roster full of Division One prospects, another key component as Nebraska looks to try and land five-star cornerback Darnay Holmes and 2018 standout Brendan Radley-Hiles. Holmes may not be entirely persuaded by high school teammates, but his comfort with Nebraska is not debatable. 

Holmes and Radley-Hiles will be at Ohio State for the Buckeyes' spring game on April 16th. 

IMG GETS FULL-FLEDGED GEORGIA RUSH

Whether you love or hate what they're doing to high school football, it's impossible to suggest that the people at Bradenton's IMG Academy don't know what they're doing. Over the last three years, the Ascenders have become the go-to destination for college coaching staffs for the ol' one-stop shop recruiting experience.

Today, Georgia tried to fill up the proverbial shopping cart.

From DawgNation.com

IMG Academy coach Kevin Wright got a text message this morning that shared UGA’s extreme interest in 18 of the 60 current players on his varsity team. UGA offered 18 of his guys in one fell swoop via a text message.

One of the best football programs in the country, an SEC power –– has offered almost 33-percent of a high school football team.

Georgia landed one of IMG's top players last year, tight end Isaac Nauta, but it's clear that the point of these offers isn't to really recruit each player, but to make sure Kirby Smart's team is well-recognized on the finely manicured grounds of IMG.

“I think their message was they want to be a presence at IMG,” Wright said. “They are going to go after the top players in the country and wherever they are at they are going to find them. They see themselves as an elite program and they feel like they can win national championships. Winning those championships start for them by having great players.”

Ohio State obviously agrees that there's good reason to be visible in Bradenton. The Buckeyes have two commitments currently on the Ascenders' roster, but have offers out to many more. As the game changes and recruiting becomes more specialized, expect more of these prep schools to emerge around the country.

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