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.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
This evening, two of Ohio State’s top targets at a position of great need will make their respective college decisions when four-star defensive ends Jayson Oweh and Tyreke Smith announce during the Under Armour All-America Game.
The exhibition, which takes place in Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, kicks off in a matter of minutes (6 p.m. EST), which is why this evening’s edition of The Hurry Up has been moved to an earlier slot than usual.
Anyway, there was a point in time where it appeared the Buckeyes could land as many as four or five defensive ends in the current cycle, which would have been ideal given starters Tyquan Lewis and Jalyn Holmes have exhausted their eligibility and junior Sam Hubbard declared for the NFL Draft following last Friday’s Cotton Bowl win over USC. But that went out the window when both Andrew Chatfield and Brenton Cox reopened their recruitments in July and December, respectively.
Ohio State was forced to go all-out in its pursuit of Oweh and Smith as a result, and it now appears the Buckeyes are on the verge of landing at least one to pair with signee Alex Williams, a three-star prospect from Pickerington North who flipped from West Virginia on the first day of the Early Signing Period.
Now before I offer my final predicitions, I want to share a bit of background on Oweh and Smith's respective recruitments.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Oweh was a relatively unknown prospect who had made the switch from football to basketball during his junior season, but burst onto the recruiting scene when he put up absurd numbers during Nike Football's The Opening New Jersey Regional last spring.
Premier programs like Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech all offered him a scholarship within the next few weeks, and his potential quickly made him one of the most sought-after defensive ends in the country.
Oweh took an unofficial visit to Columbus for a one-day camp in June, at which time he became especially close to defensive line coach Larry Johnson and defensive coordinator/area recruiter Greg Schiano. He returned to campus a month later for Friday Night Lights and contemplated ending his recruitment altogether, but those around him advised him to take other visits first.
Having decided to announce his decision this evening, Oweh took an official visits to Ohio State in early September. But a theme that would continue throughout his recruitment emerged when he visited Penn State one week later, Oweh was suddenly trending toward the Nittany Lions — whichever team got the last visit appeared to be the team to beat.
Oweh landed a late offer from Michigan, and took an official visit to Ann Arbor for The Game. The Wolverines simply had too much to overcome in a short period of time to make things interesting, though.
Oweh's commitment to Penn State seemed inevitable until mid-December, when head coach Urban Meyer, Johnson and Schiano made their in-home visit with Oweh and his family. They attended his basketball game and put to bed the rumors about Johnson's potential retirement, which Oweh later admitted impacted his thoughts on the Buckeyes.
As was the case throughout, when Oweh would go back and forth between two schools, sources close to him told Eleven Warriors they believed Ohio State was back in the lead following that visit. But then Oweh and his family went on vacation to California over the holidays, at which time — those same sources told me last night — he decided Penn State was the best place for him.
While Oweh has the utmost respect for Johnson and thinks he could develop him into a man on and off the field, the Nittany Lions were one of the first big-time schools to offer him a scholarship and his relationship with defenisve line coach Sean Spencer seems to have swayed his decision. Five-star Micah Parsons' move from defensive end to middle linebacker also means the position is a little less crowded than was originally anticipated.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Smith didn't play football prior to his junior season, either, but showed great athleticism and netted several offers during the camp circuit in June 2016.
He attended several Ohio State games that fall, and the Buckeyes finally offered him a scholarship in January. Most assumed he would end up playing his college ball in Columbus right then based on proximity alone.
But Smith, a California native, wasn't a certain thing for Meyer and Johnson. Penn State was among the first Power 5 schools to offer him a scholarship, and that gave Franklin a leg-up in his recruitment from a very early stage. In fact, Smith was ready to move on altogether without Ohio State and trim down his list of offers when the Buckeyes finally came calling.
A few early-season unofficial visits to State College pointed toward Penn State being Smith's eventual destination, and most figured his official visit in December would seal the deal for the Nittany Lions. But something appeared off during that trip and Smith cancelled two in-home visits with Franklin and Spencer the week after. He welcomed Meyer, Johnson, Schiano and running backs coach Tony Alford for an in-home visit that Friday, and — in a compete reversal of fortune — Ohio State appeared to be back in the lead.
Of course, the question on everyone’s mind became, “What made Smith change his mind?” But it really was a perfect storm for the Buckeyes, as the glaring lack of depth at defensive end, the possibility for early playing time and the opportunity to play for a coach of Johnson's caliber is intriguing.
So with all that said, it appears Ohio State will go 1-for-2 this evening.
STARS OF TOMORROW
More than 600 of the nation’s top underclassmen will gather at San Antonio’s Alamodome on Friday morning to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Combine.
Prospects will compete in drills like the 40-yard dash, shuttle run and vertical jump. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee will be on hand, which means this essentially marks the first step toward playing in next year’s game.
Among the notable names participating in tomorrow’s event:
- 2019 Pennsylvania three-star offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic
- 2019 Florida four-star safety Briton Allen
- 2019 Kentucky four-star offensive tackle Bryan Hudson
- 2020 Florida four-star defensive end Chantz Williams
- 2019 Kentucky four-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright
- 2019 Indiana four-star wide receiver David Bell
- 2019 Kansas four-star defensive end Marcus Hicks
- 2020 Florida four-star wide receiver Marcus Rosemy
- 2019 Texas four-star athlete Marquez Beason
- 2019 Florida four-star offensive tackle Michael Tarquin
- 2019 North Carolina five-star running back Quavaris Crouch
Media outlets (outside of 247Sports) aren’t allowed on the field, so I’ll only be able to watch and snap a few photos from the stands. I’ll then have a brief notebook tomorrow with my observations from the event.
