The Hurry Up: What Jonah Jackson's Transfer Means for Ohio State Recruiting, Several Top 2020 Targets Participate in Weekend Showcases

By Taylor Lehman on February 25, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Kelee Ringo
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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.

What Jonah Jackson's Transfer Means

Graduate transfer offensive lineman Jonah Jackson announced via Twitter that he has chosen Ohio State to play out his final year of collegiate football, after spending four years at Rutgers.

Jackson's transfer is an obvious difference-maker for the Buckeye offensive line, as he immediately owns the most experience in the room for a unit that needs more starters with previous playing time. He also has some versatility on the interior of the offensive line.

But while Jackson's transfer has significance for Ohio State in the short-term, it also signifies benefits in the long-term too. Offensive line coach Greg Studrawa has been with the program for three seasons — entering his fourth — and has coached three All-Americans in that tenure, as well as boasting two units that ranked in the top-three in the Big Ten.

In every full recruiting season Studrawa has been working for Ohio State, the Buckeyes have signed on five-star offensive linemen, including in the 2020 class with Cincinnati five-star tackle Paris Johnson, Jr. Now, by landing a transfer from Jackson, Studrawa has proven himself to be a higher-level offensive line recruiter than Ohio State knew him to be before. 

With that being known, and understanding the state which the Ohio State offensive line currently stands, Studrawa has taken a few of the steps needed toward patching an offensive line whose only adversity is a lack of time on the field.

OSU Targets at 7v7 Showcase

Ohio State's recruiting interests were in a lot of places at once Sunday, between The Opening Regionals in Orlando and the National 7v7 Showcase in Las Vegas. Several top Ohio State targets were involved in both of those events, including 2020 wide receiver commit Gee Scott, Jr. 

Scott was on the same team as five-star Arizona cornerback Kelee Ringo, five-star California wideout Johnny Wilson, five-star Washington linebacker Sav'ell Smalls and four-star Washington running back Sam Adams. 

Five-star No. 1 tight end in the 2020 class Darnell Washington also played in the showcase, as well as four-star Missouri wideout Jordan Johnson and 2021 Washington athlete Emeka Egbuka.

More Targets at The Opening Regionals

A week after former Ohio State commit Lejond Cavazos opened some eyes with a 4.40 40-yard dash at The Opening Regionals in Miami, a couple Ohio State 2020 targets competed in the Orlando regional Sunday.

The prospect with perhaps the most interest in Ohio State that participated in Orlando was four-star Jacksonville cornerback Fred Davis. The No. 35 recruit in the 2020 class and the No. 3 cornerback in the nation is being recruited by Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jeff Hafley and performed well enough to advance to The Opening Finals in the summer. 

Five-star Florida running back Demarkcus Bowman was also at the regional as well. Being the No. 5 running back in the nation, the 5-foot-11, 186-pound ball carrier advanced to the final as expected. He also posted the No. 3 overall rating at the Orlando regional.

Buckeyes Offer North Carolina Running Back

Williams Amos Hough High School running back Evan Pryor has gotten quite a start to his recruitment, as the high school sophomore has 27 offers and was given his 28th from Ohio State on Monday afternoon. 

Pryor has a fairly close relationship with Penn State already and has made multiple visits to the Nittany Lions. His sister attends school at Penn State as well. Penn State is joined by schools like Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Michigan and others, including Alabama, which offered him Feb. 20.

Not only is Pryor a good ball carrier — he rushed for 912 yards as a sophomore, 1,441 yards as an underclassman — but he also catches passes out of the backfield. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound back has caught 39 passes for 457 yards and 10 touchdowns as a freshman and sophomore.

Pryor is ranked as the No. 3 running back in the 2021 class by the 247Sports composite ratings.

Ohio State Announces Camp Schedule

Ohio State announced the schedule for its summer camps, which include children as young as fifth grade level through high school, Monday afternoon.

The youth camp, fifth through eighth grade levels, takes place June 3 and June 4. One-day camps — morning skills camps and evening big man camps — occur on two occasions, June 6 and June 15. Only high school players can participate in the one-day camps.

An overnight fundamental camp for high school athletes is scheduled for June 12-13, and a fifth-grade-and-up specialists camp will take place June 15. The camps end on June 17 with a 7-on-7 camp for high school athletes.

Antoine Sampah Leaves Buckeyes Out

Five-star Virginia linebacker Antoine Sampah released his top-eight Sunday, and Ohio State was not included. Sampah is the top recruit coming out of Virginia in the Class of 2020 and is the No. 2 inside linebacker in the nation.  The linebacker included Penn State, Clemson, Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Oregon, North Carolina and West Virginia.

The Buckeyes are in close discussions with Sav'ell Smalls, five-star Washington D.C. linebacker Mekhail Sherman and four-star Akron linebacker DeaMonte Trayanum, who is also interested in playing running back.

Also...

Here's a video of Gee Scott, Jr. and Sav'ell Smalls to brighten your day.

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