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.
Jaheim Thomas Receives OSU Offer
Four-star Cincinnati linebacker Jaheim Thomas finally received his Ohio State offer. After trips to Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Georgia Tech with five-star offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and four-star defensive end Darrion Henry, Thomas made his way to Columbus on Saturday.
There is a chance that to earn the offer, Thomas might have agreed to work out at the defensive end position, even though he is classified as a linebacker for the 2020 class.
Ohio State is sitting pretty well with linebackers Sav’ell Smalls, Mekhail Sherman and Kourt Williams, who the Buckeyes recently hosted on a visit. Thomas’ 6-foot-5, 218-pound frame could translate well at the defensive end position, especially if Ohio State finds that he is not fast enough to play at linebacker in the Big Ten.
The trio from Cincinnati has expressed that they would like to play together at the next level and have taken their visits as a group, including Ohio State, though Henry arrived Friday and the other two followed Saturday.
Prospects Performing at The Opening in Massillon
Several Ohio-area prospects are at Washington High School Massillon on Sunday to participate in The Opening Regionals, including some of Ohio State’s top 2020 and 2021 targets were included. Among the participants who Ohio State has been connected with:
- Trey Leroux
- Terah Edwards
- Darvon Hubbard
- Lorenzo Styles
- Cameron Martinez
- Ian Stewart
- Donovan Edwards
- DeaMonte Trayanum
- Isaiah Hackett
- Jutahn McClain
- Braiden McGregor
- Michael Drennen
Workouts are still taking place this afternoon, so stay tuned with Eleven Warriors for more updates on The Opening Regionals following the event.
Ben Christman Discusses Mid-week Visit
Richfield native offensive tackle Ben Christman made a visit to Ohio State on Thursday, but it wasn’t the 2021 tackle's first trip to Columbus. He had visited during Bowl practices Dec. 15 on a whim.
The Ohio State staff reached out to him the day before his visit to ask if he’d like to visit the following day, and lucky enough, Christman was available.
“They reached out to me the day before I visited,” Christman said. “They said, ‘We want you to come out to practice tomorrow,’ and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ It all worked out that I had nothing to do that day.”
During his first visit, he was able to see how the program worked and met most of the Ohio State coaching staff, except for offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, who was at his daughter’s graduation. On Thursday, though, he was able to meet Studrawa and had a more thorough, organized trip.
“From what I’ve seen, Coach Day, since he’s taken over, has done an excellent job,” Christman said. “And with Coach Stud, it doesn’t get much better than that. It was awesome to get to see those guys coach and was awesome to meet Coach Stud for the first time.”
Christman said he appreciated that Ohio State was able to talk to him about life outside of football – he hopes to study business and marketing in college at the moment.
The 6-foot-6, 300-pound high school sophomore said he will go to a program he can trust with his future after football while enjoying his four or five years within a football program. Ohio State could potentially be that place.
Great day at The Ohio State University@ryandaytime @CoachStudOL @CoachTonyAlford @markpantoni @etwill21 #BuckeyeNation #GOBUCKEYES
— Ben Christman (@bigbenchristman) March 30, 2019
I will be back! O-H... pic.twitter.com/XIUSlGpLsC
“I’m extremely interested in becoming a Buckeye, that’s for sure,” Christman said. “That’s an elite program that we’re talking about football-wise and how they prepare their student-athletes for life after football. It means a lot especially coming from Northeast Ohio. All my friends at school are Buckeye fans.”
Christman has been in regular contact with Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford since mid-January and is up to nine offers now, including an offer from Penn State.
His Revere High School team went 6-4 in his sophomore season, and the offensive tackle believes, while he needs to improve on his speed and playing at a lower pad level, his strength will come as he matures.
Lukas Ungar Commits Elsewhere
Lukas Ungar, the No. 7 2020 tight end out of New Jersey, announced Thursday that he has committed to Stanford. Ungar had included Ohio State in his top-five list Feb. 22, along with Clemson, Georgia and Penn State.
C O M M I T T E D#FeartheTree #CardClass20 @StanfordFball pic.twitter.com/tjAm735d2W
— Lukas Ungar (@lungar13) March 28, 2019
Ungar became the third tight end among six Ohio State has offered to commit elsewhere already. Ohio State is in strong position for No. 9 tight end (No. 350 overall) Mark Redman and No. 13 tight end (No. 502 overall) Cam Large, though.
