The Hurry Up: Ohio State Sends Out Official Scholarship Offers While Several Commits, Top Targets Named All-Americans

By Andrew Lind on August 1, 2018 at 6:50 pm
Jameson Williams
Jameson Williams
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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.

FOR REAL THIS TIME

It’s Aug. 1, which means colleges can now send official, written scholarship offers to high school seniors from the Class of 2019.

Up until now, prospects simply received a verbal offer from programs interested in securing their pledge, but this is when they learn which programs are truly interested in them — rather than handing out offers left and right — and if their offer is committable.

That said, notable prospects who posted their official offer from Ohio State include:

Ohio State four-star quarterback commit Dwan Mathis
St. Louis four-star wide receiver Jameson Williams
Kentucky four-star slot receiver/returner Wandale Robinson
Indianapolis four-star wide receiver David Bell
Florida four-star athlete Mark-Antony Richards
Florida State four-star cornerback commit Renardo Green
Texas four-star athlete Peyton Powell

Of course, nothing is binding until prospects sign their National Letter of Intent during the Early Signing Period — which runs Dec. 19-21 — or the traditional National Signing Day on Feb. 6. Other programs will continue to try to recruit the Buckeyes’ top commits and vice versa, but this is also a good indication of who Ohio State’s top targets are moving forward.

HANDS OFF

The turn of the month also means a new period in the college football recruiting calendar.

After one week — and one huge weekend — of unofficial visits during the quiet period, a month-long dead period has resumed. That means through Aug. 31, coaches are not allowed to have face-to-face contact with recruits or visit their high schools, though written and electronic contact is still permitted.

There’s one exception that works in Ohio State’s favor, however.

According to associate athletic director for compliance Justin Kume, institutions who have home competition prior to the end of August or on Sept. 1 get a 48-hour grace period. That means prospects who are attending the season opener against Oregon State could show up on Thursday or Friday and the program would still be following NCAA guidelines on the matter.

It’s highly unlikely for it to come into play, however, since I don’t anticipate many prospects are dying to use their official visit on the Buckeyes-Beavers matchup.

BEST OF THE BEST

USA TODAY Sports unveiled its 2018 American Family Insurance All-American Football Team on Tuesday morning, and several Ohio State commits and targets made the list. The publication's sports reporter, Jim Halley, made the selections based on past performances and coach and scouting analyst recommendations.

Fifty of the nation's top prospects made the cut, including:

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