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.
MOND DELAY INDUSTRIES?
Now that he's officially decommitted from Baylor, the belief is that the action may move hot and heavy with IMG Academy quarterback Kellen Mond. Upon announcing he was reopening his recruitment, Mond publicly stated that Auburn is the team at the top of his list.
No. 2 dual-threat QB in the nation, @TheKellenMond , decommits from Baylor! Hear why & what's next pic.twitter.com/XPTCQA1qeD
— Jeff Jones (@JeffJonesSports) June 1, 2016
Ohio State had been the team recruiting the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder the hardest just a month ago, but in recent weeks the Tigers have jumped into the lead. There are dozens of moving parts that go into every recruitment, but the scuttlebutt surrounding Tate Martell and the Buckeyes – namely the discussion that Ohio State would prefer Mond delay a decision – likely plays into it a little bit.
Last week, the rumors were that Mond would go home to San Antonio, publicly decommit from Baylor and then announce a commitment to another school – likely Auburn – on Friday before heading to the Elite 11 finals in Los Angeles. So far, the story is ringing true but there's some belief now that a delayed decision, at least a few days, is becoming a reality. That's good news for the Buckeyes and Mond, at least temporarily, because it allows the quarterback a chance to head to Los Angeles and perform at the Elite 11 sans pressure and it gives Ohio State a little more time to get their ducks in a row.
Regardless of when it happens, the most likely scenario is that Mond ends up choosing Auburn sometime soon, but any delay is a good thing for the Buckeyes.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, BISHOP GORMAN HIGHLIGHT COUNTRY'S BEST HIGH SCHOOLS
If you want to be the best college football program in the country, you've got to recruit the best players. Thanks to any one of a handful of "super teams" that are emerging from coast-to-coast, it's getting easier to find them because more and more of those players are lining up together in high school. So now, to really dominate recruiting, you've got to make your way "in" to a few marquee high schools and the Buckeyes are doing just that.
Yesteryday, MaxPreps released what is essentially a Top 25 list for the upcoming season and many of the schools represented should be familiar to you if you're following recruiting. Here are just a few of the schools that the Buckeyes have made themselves very familiar at in the last few years.
- No. 1 • St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale
- No. 2 • Grayson, Loganville, Georgia
- No. 3 • Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas
- No. 4 • IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
- No. 8 • DeSoto, Texas
- No. 11 • American Heritage, Plantation, Florida
- No. 14 • Colerain, Cincinnati
- No. 15 • Central Catholic, Pittsburgh
- No. 18 • Trinity Christian Academy, Jacksonville
- No. 22 • Cass Tech, Detroit
The Buckeyes have made a home at St. Thomas for years, but in recent months, Bishop Gorman, IMG and others have become just as familiar. In the last few recruiting cycles, they've landed – or were in the final group – for players at nearly all the powerhouse programs around the country.
As for the teams themselves? These early rankings won't matter much, but the spotlight on high school football – and the increase money being poured into it – means a handful of exceptional match-ups early in the season. Bishop Gorman and IMG will each play three schools on the early Top 25 list, and the Gaels will face all three of those in their first five games of the season. Being ranked third after two undefeated seasons, with a ton of returning talent is pretty good, but it's just motivation for Tate Martell and his teammates.
"It means I'm not where I want to be," Martell told 11W of the ranking. "It means we have to go out there and prove for the third year in a row that we are the best out there and I can't wait to do it."
St. Thomas Aquinas will travel to Las Vegas to take on Bishop Gorman on September 30th.
SLEEPING ON SIMMONS
Ohio State has a star-studded 2017 recruiting class ranked as the country's best, as we've mentioned many times. The Buckeyes have 13 commitments and 12 – Blake Haubeil, the country's top-ranked kicker, is the lone exception – are ranked inside the country's Top 300 prospects according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, ranging anywhere from fourth (Josh Myers) to No. 285 (Danny Clark).
Just nine spots ahead of Clark sits Ann Arbor Pioneer linebacker Antjuan Simmons, who is ranked as the country's 24th-best outside linebacker and Michigan's eighth-overall prospect. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound tackling machine probably doesn't care too much about his rankings, he's committed to Ohio State and heading to The Opening next month, but people paying attention to his game and skills, do.
"I know 'rankings don't matter' but come on people," one source in Michigan said. "There is no chance that there are 23 better outside linebacker prospects than Simmons. I know some of his rankings come from not having a natural position before last year and playing running back a bit, but the game tape, numbers, camps and all that speak for themselves. He's a monster."
It's natural to compare future players with past players, but there's a guy on the Ohio State roster currently that strikes the greatest resemblance to Simmons.
"He really reminds me of (Jerome) Baker," the source continued. "He doesn't run like a linebacker. You can tell that he could be a good offensive player if he wanted to be, he just has a nasty mindset on the field. It's awesome to watch."
DUVERNAY IS A FREE AGENT, WILL BUCKEYES MAKE A PLAY?
One of the top players in the 2016 recruiting class – Sachse, Texas wide receiver Devin Duvernay – is back on the market after discovering yesterday that his National Letter of Intent to Baylor was actually invalid.
Henry Duvernay discovered the error while attempting to submit his son's release request. He was unable to access Devin's account with the NLI database and reached out to Baylor and the NLI office for their help.
Talk about a serendipitous twist.
Naturally, the question from some will be: would Ohio State take a look? The country's fourth-ranked 2016 prospect made an official visit to Columbus last September, but it seems like TCU and Texas are the two schools most likely to have a shot here. With numbers already extremely tight in their 2017 class and a roster that's not short on wide receivers, the Buckeyes will not pursue him, though they'd likely listen/consider it if his family reached out to them.
