When three-star 2023 Texas linebacker S’Maje Burrell received his offer from Ohio State on Dec. 8, it was former OSU linebackers coach Al Washington that presented the opportunity to Burrell’s high school coach.
Washington has since moved on to Notre Dame, but Burrell is still being recruited by Ohio State. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker says he has been contacted three times a week by new OSU staffers Koy McFarland and Matt Guerrieri and talks to defensive coordinator Jim Knowles once a week.
“He’s cool,” Burrell told Eleven Warriors of Knowles. “He’s taking the time to get to know me and it’s been more of a welcoming type of process for me.”
As his recruitment starts to heat up, Burrell plans to visit OSU on April 16 to attend the spring game with his family. It will be Burrell’s first time visiting Columbus. He says his interest the Buckeyes stems from the program’s rich tradition and the chance to “make history.”
“I’m looking forward to getting to know the culture and seeing how everything is run for them,” Burrell said. “And overall just see the program in general.”
Burrell told Eleven Warriors OSU sees him as either a Mike or Sam linebacker at the collegiate level.
“That’s because of how versatile I am at the linebacker position, being able to play downhill and being able to cover,” he said.
Burrell is ranked as the 456th-best player and the 37th-best linebacker in the 2023 cycle, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. In 2021, Burrell helped lead North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas) to a 7-4 season, primarily playing middle linebacker. He recorded 104 tackles with 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.
While Burrell is going to be patient before he completely narrows down his school list, the Texas linebacker said he plans to commit before his senior season.
“I plan to commit before the season starts and I think I’ll start narrowing it down sometime over the summer or in the middle of spring ball,” Burrell said.
Fagan puts out top 8
One of the Buckeyes’ safety targets for 2023 has condensed his school list to eight. Four-star Florida safety Daemon Fagan released a top eight Tuesday that consists of Ohio State, Miami, Penn State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina State, Florida State and UCF.
I became an important lil boy ! #blessed pic.twitter.com/4VKlsdXgbU
— DaemonFagan (@FaganDaemon) February 22, 2022
According to 247Sports, Fagan plans to visit Ohio State twice this spring: First on April 2 and then again for the spring game.
"They just brought in coach Perry Eliano from Cincinnati and he was recruiting me really hard when he was at Cincinnati,” Fagan told 247Sports. “There was a point in time where Cincinnati was one of my top schools. Then he made that switch and I already got a connection with coach Ryan Day. Eliano has just made everything better.”
In seven games for American Heritage High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) last season, Fagan racked up 28 tackles and recorded two interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound safety is ranked as the 247th-best player and the 24th-ranked safety in the 2023 class. It doesn't look like a decision is going to come any time soon for Fagan, though, as he told 247Sports he likely won't make a college decision until December or February.
Ohio State will likely take three safeties in the 2023 cycle, and has already landed one commitment from Cedrick Hawkins. Other targets include Caleb Downs, Joenel Aguero and Malik Hartford.
Lee decommits from Georgia
One of Ohio State’s former top cornerback targets is back on the market. Four-star 2023 Georgia cornerback Kayin Lee decommitted from Georgia on Tuesday, a move that comes after former UGA secondary coach Jahmile Addae left the Bulldogs to join the staff at Miami earlier this month.
I will still be evaluating UGA. All love pic.twitter.com/J2q0Vb54Ld
— Kayin Lee (@_kayinlee) February 22, 2022
Lee is ranked as the 144th-best overall prospect and the 17th-best cornerback in the 2023 class. Before his commitment to Georgia, Lee was right behind five-star AJ Harris in terms of being a top priority for Ohio State. Of course, that was when Kerry Coombs was still Ohio State’s cornerbacks coach, though it’s anticipated Ohio State will reach out and do its due diligence on Lee now that he’s uncommitted again.
It may help that new cornerbacks coach Tim Walton is originally from Georgia, so building a quick connection sure seems possible. It wouldn’t be surprising if Lee re-emerges as one of Ohio State’s top cornerback targets along with Harris and Cormani McClain.
