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.
Day has no issues with early signing period
When Ryan Day last spoke with reporters before Wednesday, via teleconference in late March, he said that he believed there was a possibility we could see “some reform in different areas” in regards to changes in a recruiting calendar that has been thrown completely out of whack due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“I don’t think it should be drastic, but I do think that based on when we’re able to get people back on campus to visit that we should be able to change a few things,” Day said at the time.
One thing that some – including us – have suggested as a possibility is the nixing of the early signing period in December in which all signings are pushed back to the regular National Signing Day in February. That scenario is still in play, but it's not a scenario supported by Day, who met with reporters via teleconference on Wednesday.
“I don’t see an issue with the early signing date because if people don’t feel comfortable signing at that point, then they still have all the way until February,” Day said. “They still have an option so I don’t know why we would change the early signing day. It’s their choice. If they feel great about it, then they sign at that moment. If they don’t, they just sign in February. We’ve given them two options so I’m in favor of just keeping it the way it is.”
Washington's Emeka Egbuka is one of several priority junior recruits who Ohio State was expecting to receive a visit from this spring but whom the Buckeyes hosted during the fall.
One of the biggest decisions handed down by the NCAA, between Day's last media availability in March and today's session, was its decision to extend the recruiting dead period through May 31 after originally putting in place a dead period through at least April 15.
That dead period affected Ohio State's recruiting plans as the program was expecting to host dozens of key targets, including more than a handful of high-priority uncommitted visitors from the 2021 class – mainly JC Latham, Emeka Egbuka, Troy Stellato, Tony Grimes, Rocco Spindler and perhaps J.T. Tuimoloau.
Division I, Division II extends their recruiting dead periods: pic.twitter.com/aIC7WUTg3p
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) April 1, 2020
The dead period wiped out the possibility of spring visitors, throwing a wrench into recruiting players from both the sophomore and junior classes, but Day is confident that, because every school is going through something similar, that it will be a level playing field recruiting-wise.
“Yeah, it’s gonna set us back a little bit, but as long as it’s the same for everybody we’ll all be OK coming out of this thing,” Day said. “But certainly for the families, they won’t be able to take several visits to a school. Some of them are probably gonna be able to get to a school maybe once, or sometimes twice, in the recruiting process, which is something new. Usually, those guys will (visit) three or four times.”
Despite the recruiting moratorium, the Buckeyes still became the nation's hottest team in terms of recruiting moment during that time, landing five commitments in March and another from Tunmise Adeleye on Wednesday.
“I don’t see an issue with the early signing date because if people don’t feel comfortable signing at that point, then they still have all the way until February.”– Ryan Day
They were able to do that because the staff – as it has established a reputation of doing – was so early in the process recruiting most of these top targets that they were able to build long-standing relationships with them and get them on campus at least once in the summer or fall. (That includes five of the program's most recent commits, with the exception of TreVeyon Henderson, who has never visited campus.)
“I think it’s going to work its way out,” Day said when asked if he has concerns about the lack of unofficial and official spring visits affecting future classes. “I think that we’ll be in a very different place one or two months from now. We’ll kind of adapt. Recruiting is so sped up. A lot of these guys have been on our campus already, and they’ve got a good feel for who we are. Again, as long as it’s the same for all teams, I don’t think it’s gonna have much of an impact other than they’re not gonna get as many times on campus.”
New rankings colored in scarlet
Ohio State still holds the No. 1-ranked class in America by a wide margin after its big March haul and after Wednesday's commitment from Adeleye.
Ohio State's 2020 class had 25 commitments and finished ranked No. 5 overall.
Total score: 295.08
Ohio State's 2021 class has 16 commitments and would've finished No. 6 overall in the 2020 cycle.
Total score: 289.96
Ryan Day's second full recruiting class has already become noteworthy, and there's a good chance it becomes even more special. When we keep talking about Ohio State potentially having the No. 1 class, and potentially the best class of all time, it's not hyperbole.
Following 247Sports' rankings update on Wednesday, the Buckeyes have either landed commitment or have a great shot at landing six players ranked in the top 12. That includes commits Jack Sawyer (No. 4), Donovan Jackson (No. 10) and Henderson (No. 12). Uncommitted players Tuimoloau (No. 1), Latham (No. 3) and Egbuka (No. 7) are each trending toward Ohio State right now.
Ohio State has a chance to land half of the players ranked in the top 10, including three of the top four: J.T. Tuimoloau, JC Latham, Jack Sawyer, Emeka Egbuka and Donovan Jackson. pic.twitter.com/MbpdFkPnMq
— Zack Carpenter (@Zack_Carp) April 15, 2020
Last week, we discussed the momentum that Latham had been creating as a potential five-star prospect, and on Wednesday, he reached that status as one of the highest movers up the rankings.
Other noteworthy targets who made big jumps include North Carolina defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie (223 to 127), Florida slot receiver Christian Leary (190 to 128) and Kentucky defensive back Jantzen Dunn (212 to 146).
Also, for those wondering how 247Sports could make a rankings update when all campuses are shut down, gym access is scarce and in-person evaluations are cut off, here is a thread explaining the process via the publication's director of scouting, Barton Simmons:
A couple of notes on today's Top247 rankings update and our rankings plan moving forward...
— Barton Simmons (@bartonsimmons) April 15, 2020
And on a final note, the only Ohio State commit who saw a significant move in the rankings was three-star cornerback Devonta Smith out of Cincinnati La Salle, as Smith moved up 25 spots in his composite ranking to No. 403 overall.
Different type of rankings update
There was plenty of reshuffling atop the board of the class of 2021 recruiter rankings following Henderson's late March commitment, as Tony Alford ascended to No. 1 overall.
After Adeleye's commitment on Wednesday, there were more changes, as the Buckeyes now have five staff members in the top seven:
- No. 1 Tony Alford
- No. 2 Brian Hartline
- No. 3 Kerry Coombs
- No. 5 Larry Johnson
- No. 7 Al Washington
We've talked about the amount of respect that Day quickly earned in high schools across the country, and that's a prime reason for him having such success this fast on the recruiting trail.
But Day forming a staff that can recruit this well is equally as responsible for this success. Probably moreso.
