The Hurry Up: Ohio State Offers Indiana Running Back Sampson James While Official Visit Looms For Five-Star Offensive Tackle Cade Mays

By Andrew Lind on November 6, 2017 at 6:50 pm
Cade Mays
Cade Mays - via Michael Lindsey, Crossville Chronicle
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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.

A CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER

Ohio State landed a commitment from the most underrated running back in the nation when Tennessee three-star Master Teague III pledged his services to the Buckeyes this summer. And despite the fact that he'd rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior, recruiting services and coaches alike failed to properly evaluate him because he didn't attend many camps.

That obviously benefitted Ohio State and running backs coach Tony Alford, who kept close tabs on Teague throughout the entire process. That kind of thorough assessment is what led the Buckeyes to offer a similarly underrated running back on Sunday evening in Avon, Indiana, three-star Sampson James.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound James is considered the 38th-best running back and No. 470 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, but he's bound to see his stock soar having rushed for 1,504 yards and 18 touchdowns for the Orioles this season. He also holds offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota, but I anticipate that list will grow significantly now that Ohio State has entered the race for his services.

James has never been to campus, but is expected to attend the Buckeyes' game against Michigan State this coming weekend.

MOVING ON

In last night's edition of The Hurry Up, I discussed the impact Ohio State's loss to Iowa has on the recruiting trail. And, in short, a single defeat won’t influence a prospect’s decision, nor will it make any commits reconsider their pledge. Even though —from the Buckeyes’ perspective — it does get much more embarrassing than that.

It’s impossible for a program to go undefeated every year, and recruits understand that. So, the thing they pay attention to most is how the coaches and players respond in the days and weeks thereafter.

That’s why this weekend’s game against Michigan State is key, not only in salvaging Ohio State’s admittedly underwhelming season, but also in proving that losses are a rare occurrence and not habit.

As much cannot be said down in Knoxville, where a once-proud Tennessee Football program has fallen to the depths of the SEC. And with the Volunteers sitting at 4-5 overall, some of their long-time commits have started to look around.

The most notable has to be five-star offensive tackle Cade Mays, a legacy who pledged his services more than two years ago. He visited Georgia this past weekend, and is set to take an official visit to Ohio State this weekend.

The 6-foot-6, 318-pound Mays — who is considered the second-best offensive tackle and No. 15 propsect overall in the Class of 2018 — has never been to Columbus. He doesn’t have an offer from the staff yet, either. But with uncertainty surrounding five-star target Jackson Carman and the staff's desire to add at least one more offensive tackle to fold, Mays is certainly an attractive option.

It's seems as if he's pretty excited to get up to Ohio, too.

“I’ve actually never been up north, so getting up there is going to be pretty special,” Mays told Buckeye Sports Radio. “I’ve heard Columbus is unbelievable. I’ve heard the atmosphere there is great. The people there are great. It’s a college city. So, I’m excited to get up there and talk to Urban Meyer in person, and Coach [Greg] Stud[rawa] too. I actually met Coach Stud not to long ago. I’m just excited to get up there and get around some of the players, some of the recruits, and just seeing what they’re about up there.”

There's no doubt Tennessee's struggles have given Mays a lot to think about.

His father and uncle both played for the Volunteers, with the former once being named a team captain, and he bleeds Orange and White because of that. But, then again, there comes a point in time when Mays has to consider the possibility that he never wins more than eight or so games a year if he chooses to stick with his commitment — and that has to be tough for a kid who is used to winning championships at every level at which he's played.

It's hard to envision Mays leaving the south, so Alabama, Clemson and Georgia all conceivably have a better shot and flipping him from his pledge. That won't stop Ohio State from rolling out the red carpet this weekend, though.

COLUMBUS' VERY OWN

Much like the above-mentioned James, I'd consider Columbus Northland running back John Branham Jr. the most underrated prospect in the state for next year's recruiting cycle. He, too, is set to attend Saturday's game alongside his younger brother Kalil, marking their second time on campus this fall.

“Coach [Kevin] Wilson asked us to come back,” Branham told Eleven Warriors. “He just wants us to see more of the game day environment.”

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Branham is not ranked by any major recruiting sites, but I anticipate that changes sooner rather than later given he was just named first-team all-league after he record 2,121 all-purpose yards and 28 touchdowns for the Vikings this season. He holds offers from Cincinnati, Kent State, Ohio, Pittsburgh and Toledo, but programs like Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State and USC have all shown interest.

Branham — who regularly works out with former Buckeyes Braxton Miller and Michael Thomas, as well as Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end James Harrison — would love nothing more than to land an offer from the Buckeyes. He hopes this weekend is just another step in that direction.

Kalil, meanwhile, broke Northland's single-season touchdown reception record this season. He'll undoubtedly be one of the state's best in 2020, too.

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