The Hurry-Up: Ohio State Targets Da’Ron Parks and Derrek Cooper Set Commitment Dates, Luke Fahey Says He Would Have Chosen Indiana if Ohio State Never Offered Him

By Garrick Hodge on July 16, 2025 at 5:30 pm
Derrek Cooper
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In Monday’s Hurry-Up, we touched on two commitment dates set by OSU targets, wide receiver Jerquaden Guilford and defensive tackle Deuce Geralds. 

We’ve got two more to catch you up on, so let’s delve into it. 

Da’Ron Parks to commit next week

The Buckeyes already have four offensive linemen committed for the 2026 cycle, but they’re open to adding at least one more. A big OSU target (literally and figuratively) is set to come off the board in 10 days as four-star Florida offensive lineman Da’Ron Parks will announce his commitment at 4:30 p.m. on July 26 and pick between Ohio State, Kentucky, Georgia, Auburn and Florida State. 

The 6-foot-5, 350-pound Parks took his official visit to OSU on June 20, which left a good impression on the Florida standout. This is a recruitment the Buckeyes could be in the running for if they want to make a big push for Parks considering there’s only a handful of their blue-chip targets uncommitted (Breck Kolojay and Darius Gray being the others), but we’ve all seen how the final days of a recruitment can go of late. OSU and Buckeye fans alike will find out what’s in store next week.

Derrek Cooper to commit Sunday

Ohio State’s top remaining running back target in the 2026 class has also set a commitment date. Five-star Florida standout Derrek Cooper will make his decision at 7 p.m. on Sunday and pick from a final five of Ohio State, Miami, Georgia, Texas and Florida State. Cooper originally had a commitment date for July 12, but postponed his decision by eight days.

Georgia and Miami seem to be the frontrunners heading into the final stages of this recruitment barring something changing last-minute, but we’ll find out for sure on Sunday. Assuming he commits to one of those two schools, Ohio State could be content with taking one running back in the 2026 class in Favour Akih, if Savion Hiter picks Tennessee or Michigan as expected. It could always make an addition in the transfer portal following the season if it believes more depth is necessary in its room.

Luke Fahey says he would have committed to Indiana if OSU never offered

Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope graciously filled in some of my recruiting duties while I was on vacation and caught up with new OSU signal-caller commit Luke Fahey. In the piece, Fahey details how he grew up an Ohio State fan despite residing in California and his plans for the future. 

But had Ryan Day and Billy Fessler not given Fahey the green light during his official visit, this story would have had a very different ending. Fahey told Rivals this week that if he never received the offer from the Buckeyes, he was going to call Indiana at the airport on his flight home from Columbus and commit to Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers. Ultimately, he got the offer he coveted from Ohio State, so it’s a moot point, but OSU would have had to game plan against Fahey in the future if it didn’t offer him.

Tyler Atkinson commits to Texas

A longtime Ohio State linebacker target came off the board on Tuesday. Five-star Georgia prospect Tyler Atkinson, the No. 1 linebacker in the 2026 class, committed to Texas on Wednesday, bolstering a strong recruiting class for the Longhorns. 

Though OSU offered Atkinson as an eighth grader and he took countless visits to Columbus throughout his recruitment, the Buckeyes weren’t in the pass rusher’s final group of schools, as he decided between Georgia, Texas, Oregon and Clemson. To add insult to injury for the hometown Bulldogs, Georgia also lost four-star defensive tackle James Johnson to Texas on Tuesday, too.

It’s a sign of the modern times we’re in, but Atkinson visited Austin fewer times than he did Georgia and Ohio State. However, the Longhorns were rumored to give the standout linebacker a significant NIL package. 

We have a new all-time member of the all-name team

I didn’t think anybody was ever going to beat Decoldest ToEvaDoIt Crawford for the all-name team MVP. But ladies and gentlemen, we officially have a challenger. 

A three-star 2026 running back from Richmond, Virginia, goes by SirPaul “Jesus in Cleats” Cheeks. And as of Tuesday, SirPaul Cheeks will be taking his talents to West Virginia, so congratulations to beat writers who cover the Mountaineers on getting at least a few fun stories out of it.

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