The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
IGNORING THE NARRATIVE
As you all know by now, Ohio State landed a commitment this afternoon from New York four-star tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who was arguably the Buckeyes' top target in the entire 2018 class. Michigan, Notre Dame and Wisconsin each made a push for his pledge, but could not overcome his relationship with head coach Urban Meyer.
The 6-foot-6, 238-pound Ruckert is the total package at the tight end position, something Ohio State has sorely lacked in recent seasons. That lack of usage within the Buckeyes' offense was something competing schools latched on to, but it didn't change the four-, soon-to-be five-star tight end.
“Everybody has been saying how they don’t need a tight end or how they don’t use them or they don’t put up numbers,” Ruckert told 247Sports' Steve Wiltfong ahead of his commitment. “That wasn’t what I was looking at when I narrowed things down. No matter where you go if you’re good enough they’ll get you the ball. The thing that put them ahead for myself is I felt at home when I was there. Home is one of the most important things that motivates me, and whenever I stepped foot in Columbus I really got that feeling of being home. I was always comfortable there.”
Ruckert, who previously refrained from publicly announcing his intentions to attend Friday Night Lights as to not give away his commitment, will in fact be on campus this weekend. That means more than half of the Buckeyes' current pledges — including Brenton Cox, Dallas Gant, Jaelen Gill, Josh Proctor, Brian Snead, Master Teague III, Jaiden Woodbey and Max Wray — will be there.
TEXAS TOM IS ON A ROLL
In a similar move — seeing that it was widely anticipated by recruiting analysts across the country — Houston Lamar four-star wide receiver Al'vonte Woodard committed to Texas on Saturday evening. He'd also included LSU, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M in his Top 5, but the writing was on the wall given the only true wide receiver the Buckeyes' are chasing is St. Louis four-star Kamryn Babb.
Best day EVER thank you to everyone!!!! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/OmKN1EwxAQ
— Al'vonte Woodard (@Vonte_4) July 16, 2017
“Texas is a great school,” Woodard told 247Sports' E.J. Holland. “I really like what the new staff is doing with the program. Last year, they ran and pounded the ball, but as you saw this spring, they really aired it out. They threw the ball pretty much the whole spring game. They like me at outside receiver, and I think I can be a great fit.”
The 6-foot-1, 193-pound Woodard is considered the 12th-best wideout and No. 68 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, as he caught 42 passes for 909 yards and 15 touchdowns to help the Texans to the third round of the state playoffs last season. He's teammates with five-star cornerback target Anthony Cook, too, which certainly gives Texas one plus in its battle with Ohio State — the two discuss the possibility of playing together quite regularly,
“Playing with Anthony is amazing because he's very competitive in practice. He's one of the top defensive backs [and] I'm one of the top receivers, so it's very competitive,” Woodard told Eleven Warriors at The Opening Finals earlier this month. “We've been talking about [playing together at the next level], but we'll see what happens.”
Woodard, however unlikely he is to change his mind, plans to take official visits this fall. Cook will attend the game against Oklahoma, so maybe there's a chance he tags along.
POTENTIAL FLIPPAGE?
Ohio State may have lost a battle earlier this spring for Ellenwood, Georgia, Cedar Grove five-star wide receiver commit Jadon Haselwood, but the Bulldog commit hasn't shut down his recruitment entirely, as he told Eleven Warriors he'll also attend Friday Night Lights this weekend.
“I'm there,” Haselwood said. “It's exciting for me because I haven't been there in several months.”
Much like his good friend Brenton Cox — though it came with a different result — the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Haselwood went back and forth for quite some time between the Buckeyes and Bulldogs before committing to the latter in March. He'd only taken two visits to Columbus, but formed a strong bond with Meyer and wide receivers coach Zach Smith nonetheless.
It wasn't enough for him to give Ohio State his pledge at the time, but certainly makes him a candidate to be flipped if the Bulldogs continue to underwhelm on the field.
LOTS OF FAMILIAR NAMES
High School Football America released its list of the Top 100 programs in the country for the 2017 football season on Monday morning, using an unspecified algorithm to figure out which team has the best chance to win the mythical national championship. This year, it's California powerhouse St. John Bosco that was tabbed to break Bishop Gorman's streak of three-consecutive titles.
St. John Bosco which plays one of the toughest schedules in the country, begins 2017 as the No. 1 team in the High School Football America Top 100. The Braves will make two cross-country trips this season, which will be a real test for the 2016 California Interscholastic Federation Open Division champs. Both of those matches will be against team’s that are ranked in our preseason Top 100 — No. 14 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) and No. 31 St. John’s College High School (Washington, D.C.). Aside from its always tough Trinity League schedule, the Braves will also face preseason No. 95 Chaminade in 2017.
To nobody's surprise, several Ohio State commits and targets play on teams throughout the list:
- No. 1 – St. John Bosco (CA),four-star safety commit Jaiden Woodbey
- No. 2 – Mater Dei (CA), four-star linebacker target Solomon Tuliaupupu
- No. 3 – Allen (TX), four-star quarterback target Grant Tisdale
- No. 5 – IMG Academy (FL), five-star defensive tackle commit Taron Vincent
- No. 18 – St. Xavier (OH), the state's highest-ranked team
- No. 40 – American Heritage (FL), four-star defensive end commit Andrew Chatfield
- No. 41 – Huber Heights Wayne (OH), four-star wide receiver target L'Christian “Blue” Smith
- No. 44 – Armwood (FL), four-star running back commit Brian Snead
- No. 52 – Trinity (KY), five-star defensive end target Stephen Herron Jr.
- No. 64 – Bishop Sullivan (VA), four-star linebacker commit Teradja Mitchell
- No. 71 – Lamar (TX), five-star cornerback target Anthony Cook
