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.
Darrion Henry, Jaheim Thomas to LSU
Cincinnati 2020 four-star prospects Darrion Henry and Jaheim Thomas announced that they will be taking official visits to LSU this weekend. The trio of Henry, Thomas and five-star offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. have not taken any official visits yet and plan to get to Ohio State next but don’t have any other officials planned at this point. Johnson will not be on the LSU visit.
I will be taking an official visit to LSU this weekend !!!#GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/UlDWHvXl8c
— D Hen (@darrion_henry) May 7, 2019
LSU has been rumored to be the school to rival Ohio State for the trio at this point, while Georgia has a small chance as well.
The official visits and the decision-making process will take some time, as Henry specifically is expected to commit sometime near the beginning of his senior football season. Thomas likely will as well. Since they do not have an official visit scheduled for Ohio State, it doesn’t mean they won’t in the near future.
Dametrious Crownover is a 2021 force to be reckoned with
Dametrious Crownover, the No. 2 tight end in the 2021 class, immediately becomes a name that Ohio State fans will want to pay attention to as the 2021 cycle ages.
The No. 73 player overall has been talking with Ohio State offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson for about two weeks and received an offer over the phone from Wilson last weekend.
“I was on the phone with him, and we talked for about 15 minutes. Then he told me that they were going to offer me,” Crownover said. “He’s a good guy. I love his intensity. It sounds like he would be a heck of a coach.”
Crownover said he appreciates that all of the schools that have shown interest have contacted and offered him but Ohio State in particular. He has offers from schools like Georgia, LSU, Arizona State, Baylor, Michigan, TCU and others.
Crownover is one of the more polished tight ends in the class. Standing at 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, he is nearly unstoppable in a Grandview High School offense that won a Texas state title in 2018. Crownover was a two-way player on that team, lining up at both tight end and defensive end as one of the biggest playmakers on the team.
Cane Berrong, the No. 1 tight end in the 2021 class, is still the top target for Ohio State at the position for the class, and Wilson has done a good job of cultivating a relationship with the Georgia-native as well. Now, Wilson sees himself entrenched with the top two tight ends as well as Gage Wilcox, the No. 5 tight end out of Tampa.
The 2021 class will be a very crucial one for the position, as it appears the Buckeyes will not be hitting a home run at tight end in 2020. It never really was the plan anyway, but Wilson and Ohio State are getting off to a good start if that is the plan for 2021.
Latrelle Neville visited by Brian Hartline
Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline stopped by Willowridge High School near Houston, Texas, on Tuesday. The top player Ohio State is recruiting from that school is 2021 wideout Latrell Neville, the No. 251 player overall in his class.
At 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Neville might be one of the more underrated players at his position. He’s rated as the No. 42 wideout in the country, Hartline has taken a real interest in him. That’s evident in the trips the receivers coach has made in the last week. He was at Fort Lauderdale early last week for Marcus Rosemy, then returned to Massillon for Jayden Ballard and was in Texas for Neville.
The Texas product received his Ohio State offer in mid-December and announced in early-February that his commitment date is Sept. 15, 2020.
New burst of mid-week offers
Ohio State extended six offers between Tuesday and Wednesday. Dont’e Thornton, a Penn State wide receiver commit out o fBaltimore, was the first to announce his offer from the Buckeyes. As the No. 54 player nationally, Thornton committed Feb. 3, which is extremely early for a 2021 prospect – nearly the same time as current Ohio State commit Jack Sawyer – so there is a chance he could change his mind down the road, especially after receiving offers from Oregon, Ohio State, Tennessee and others after his commitment.
Ohio State also offered two recruits out of St. Peters Prep in New Jersey early this week. Four-star 2020 linebacker Cody Simon and 2022 defensive end Keith “KJ” Miles both were the recipients. Simon posted a monster junior campaign in 2018, with 89 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, four pass deflections, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.
Emeka Megwa, a 2022 running back out of Fort Worth, Texas, had as productive of a season as a back-up freshman running back can have. In nine games, he carried the ball 86 times for 576 yards and four touchdowns. He has 13 offers including offers from Arkansas, Florida, Baylor and others.
Christian Driver, a 2022 safety out of Argyle, Texas and the son of former All-Pro receiver Donald Driver, received an Ohio State offer as well. While his father was a receiver, Christian Driver is specialized as a safety, where he recorded 67 tackles and two interceptions as a freshman.
Jatavion Sanders, the No. 31 overall prospect in the 2021 class out of Denton, Texas, rounded out the burst of impressive offers for Ohio State. As the No. 5 Texas recruit, Sanders caught 23 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore tight end in 2018. He also racked up 54 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and two interceptions as a defensive end.
