The Hurry-Up: Damon Wilson Considering Ohio State Visit for Michigan Game and Jordan Hall Puts the Buckeyes in His Top Five

By Garrick Hodge on November 7, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Damon Wilson
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The recruitment of five-star defensive end Damon Wilson has brought a tidal wave of momentum swings left and right over the past few months.

After the Florida prospect took an official visit to Ohio State on Sept. 3 for the season opener, Ohio State emerged as a clear frontrunner. Then Georgia recaptured that momentum when Wilson visited Athens for an official visit in October. 

Wouldn’t you know it, but OSU saw a flurry of predictions from various recruiting sites cast in the Buckeyes’ direction after Ryan Day and Larry Johnson visited Wilson personally in Florida on their off week. And after Wilson took another visit to Georgia on Saturday, optimism is growing stronger from the Bulldogs’ perspective. 

But Ohio State may have another chance to impress the premier defensive prospect. Wilson’s father, Damon Wilson Sr., told On3’s Chad Simmons the Wilson family may take another visit to Columbus on Nov. 26. But there also seems to be some uncertainty regarding when Wilson will be ready to announce a decision. 

“I don’t like to talk timelines and put a timeline on Damon making a decision, but he has talked about making a decision in the next week or two,” Wilson Sr. told On3. “We will get home and discuss it more. We have the playoffs starting this week, so that is his main focus right now. A trip to Ohio State for the Michigan game is something we have talked about. There could be a visit to another school still too, but Damon is getting closer. I can’t say exactly when he will be ready to commit, but we know for sure he is an early enrollee and will sign in December.”

If the 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge rusher does indeed take another visit to Columbus, it would probably make OSU all the more confident about landing one of its top remaining targets in the 2023 class.

Jordan Hall puts OSU in top five

A four-star 2023 defensive tackle has included Ohio State in his final group of schools. Florida prospect Jordan Hall released a top five Friday consisting of OSU, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and LSU.  

Considering OSU landed the commitment of Kayden McDonald on Oct. 31, the Buckeyes don’t really need another defensive tackle in the 2023 class, so this is likely a situation where OSU is just a hat on the table when his decision comes around. Hall is scheduled to take an official visit to Columbus for the Michigan game. But within the recruiting industry, Georgia is the clear favorite to land the 6-foot-5, 300-pound prospect.

I’m sorry, IMG Academy did what? 

Some day many years from now, I’ll tell my grandkids that I was one of a handful of people in Canton in August 2021 along with Eleven Warriors colleagues Dan Hope and Griffin Strom for the infamous IMG Academy vs. Bishop Sycamore 58-0 nightmare that ESPN somehow got duped into televising and creating a national storyline.

What happened on IMG Academy’s most recent game on Friday night was even worse, though at least it wasn’t nationally televised. Although Dan briefly touched on it late Friday evening, I figured this would be a good place to rehash that IMG Academy waxed a Canadian school called West Toronto Prep 96-0 (!!!) in two quarters of play, leading to the game being called at halftime.

Entering the contest, West Toronto Prep had been outscored 195-6 in five games (all losses) and lists a public park as its address, so we may very well have found Bishop Sycamore, part two. 

But hey, future Buckeye Carnell Tate scored two touchdowns Friday! When Tate arrives on campus, someone (maybe me) has to get his true thoughts on what it was like to end up playing Bishop Sycamore and West Toronto Prep in back-to-back years.

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