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.
Justin Wodtly Makes Mid-Week Visit
Three-star defensive end Justin Wodtly stopped by Ohio State before heading to Cincinnati for a visit on Friday afternoon.
“It was fun getting to chop it up with Coach (Tony) Alford, Coach (Larry) Johnson, Coach (Greg) Mattison,” Wodtly said. “Coach Alford goes all the way back to when we started talking at the beginning of my sophomore year. Having all those guys in my recruitment has been pretty neat.”
Wodtly said Ohio State has shown fairly strong interest in him but wants to see more from his pass-rushing abilities. The staff has also encouraged Wodtly to come to summer camps in June, which he has been attending for the last two years.
“They were basically just telling me things I need to work on, coaching me up a little bit,” Wodtly said. “They like me, and they’ve been recruiting me for a while. They’ve got a couple of Cleveland Heights (High School) guys on the roster now.”
Sophomore defensive end Tyreke Smith and junior wide receiver Jaylen Harris are both from Cleveland Heights, and Wodtly had a conversation with Smith after Friday’s practice was finished.
“Having Tyreke there is kind of like having a big brother for me,” Wodtly said. “He was just showing me the ropes, telling me what it’s like at the next level, getting me prepared, knowing what to expect.”
The 6-foot-3, 271 pound lineman said that he is comfortable playing anywhere along the line but that Ohio State is recruiting him as a defensive end at the moment.
Wodtly just visited Indiana on Thursday and “really likes” Michigan State.
Cincinnati Trio Hits Columbus
Four-star defensive end Darrion Henry was at Ohio State’s spring practice Friday morning. As part of the Cincinnati trio comprised of five-star St. Xavier offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and Princeton four-star linebacker Jaheim Thomas, Henry had travelled to schools such as Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Georgia Tech over the course of the last month.
It has been well-documented that the trio would like to go to the same school together, and the trio earned offers from every school they visited during the last two weekends. Thomas does not have an offer from Ohio State, though, and Johnson Jr. is committed while Henry is rumored to be near committing to Ohio State as well.
The defensive end was by himself during his visit Friday and was seen talking with head coach Ryan Day and defensive line coach Larry Johnson.
Johnson Jr. and Thomas are both expected to visit this weekend as well. Time will tell whether Thomas will receive his Ohio State offer this weekend, but if he does, Ohio State will surely be the leading candidate for the trio’s commitments, if they want to play together that strongly.
Drake Maye Reacts to Student Appreciation Day
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye found it too convenient last weekend to visit Ohio State in Columbus to not make his way to campus. The 2021 quarterback was in town to watch his brother, Luke, play for North Carolina in the rounds of 64 and 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
“I planned on getting up to Ohio State, and it happened to work out perfectly,” Maye said. “Two wins for my brother and a great visit to Ohio State.”
The Tournament happened to correspond with the weekend that Ohio State was putting on its Student Appreciation Day, which happens to be its biggest recruiting event of the spring, besides the Spring Game.
Maye was there and said one of his favorite parts of the event was meeting the other recruits, particularly the 2021 prospects. He said he talked to five-star Ohio State commit Jack Sawyer for a while and became “good friends” with him.
Maye was also able to have conversations with Ryan Day, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.
“It was overall an awesome visit,” Maye said. “I’m definitely looking forward to growing relationships up there.”
Maye characterizes Ohio State as one of the top places in the country to play quarterback, and he’s been doing just that at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a sophomore, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,201 yards, 36 touchdowns and five interceptions on the way to an appearance in the North Carolina 4AA Final Four.
He said he plans to visit all of the schools showing him interest by the end of the summer. That list includes Alabama, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, South Carolina and others.