Skull Session: Baylor School Coach Erik Kimrey Has “Never Seen Anything Like” Ohio State Target David Gabriel Georges, DaVon Hamilton and Chris Olave Were Diamonds in the Rough for the Buckeyes

By Chase Brown on June 2, 2026 at 4:55 am
David Gabriel Georges
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

All I know is pain.

Have a good Tuesday or whatever.

 IT’S ALL OHIO. Given the news I shared, I needed a laugh on Tuesday. UberFacts delivered, and so did the people in their replies.

It’s all Ohio.

Oh, and the Moon?

That’s Ohio’s Moon.

 “I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.” Cleveland.com’s Andrew Gillis secured a Q&A last week with five-star running back David Gabriel Georges’ high school coach, Erik Kimrey. He asked Kimrey what makes Georges one of the top prospects in the 2027 class — and a premier Ohio State target.

“It’s easy to look at his physical attributes, and I think that’s something that any average fan can turn on his highlight tapes and see,” Kimrey said. “I think what people don’t see is the work ethic that he has behind the scenes, whether it’s taking care of his body — I mean, the kid doesn’t eat sugar. He treats his body truly like a temple.”

Kimrey said he knew the 6-foot, 205-pound running back could be special the moment he saw his freshman tape, but one moment during Georges’ early days at Baylor School cemented it.

“A fun story, when he came here, he visited the year before, but then when he came and we put on pads for the first day and we were running an inside drill," Kimrey said. "We had a linebacker named Joel Lowenberg, who’s at Wake Forest now, and he kind of came through on the inside zone untouched, and he hit David and just slid off of him like he hit a brick wall.

“And David, of course, houses it from there. And Joel stood up and kind of shook his head and said, ‘Well, that was different.’ And so we knew right away we had something super special, and it’s been nothing but a joy for us to coach.”

Kimrey, who played quarterback at South Carolina from 1998–2002 and has coached at South Carolina, Hammond School and Baylor School, said he’s never seen a player like Georges. He called the running back a “Sunday guy” who “can play in the NFL for a long time.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I coached in the SEC for a couple of years, too. I’ve never seen anyone that has the complete toolbox that David has,” Kimrey said. “I mean, he’s 215 to 220 pounds, based on the day. He ran a 4.38 laser (40-yard dash) a couple of weeks ago… Benches like 400 pounds. Squats like 600. I mean, the guy’s just a freak show. He’s got so many physical gifts. I think what separates him really is his mind and his approach to the game. He’s intensely competitive, he’s hard on himself and he just wants to continue to get better… So yeah, he’s a coach’s dream.”

I haven’t seen a prospect with this much aura since Jeremiah Smith. That was only three years ago, but it’s a high bar to match. Georges may be on that level for me at this point. He is a must-add for the Buckeyes in their 2027 class. Ryan Day and Carlos Locklyn had him on campus this past weekend, and by all accounts, the visit went extremely well.

“We were very pleased with the experience that we had,” Sabine Georges, David’s aunt, told Lettermen Row’s Mick Walker. “David is extremely happy as well.”

Georges currently has two Crystal Ball predictions for Ohio State — one from Lettermen Row’s Alex Gleitman and another a Fong Bomb from Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong.

Now it’s on Ryan Day and Carlos Locklyn to close the deal.

 DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH. Who is the most underrated recruit Ohio State has landed in the past 10 years?

The Athletic’s Manny Navarro thinks it’s DaVon Hamilton.

Ohio State: DaVon Hamilton, DT, 3-star, No. 993 (2015) — The Pickerington, Ohio, native was committed at different points to Toledo, Pittsburgh and Kentucky until he received a late offer from the Buckeyes. He earned third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and has started 61 NFL games over the last six seasons.

This is a solid selection, but the Eleven Warriors staff wanted to offer a few different options.

Our clear-cut favorite was Chris Olave, a composite three-star who ranked No. 399 overall in the 2018 class. He gets a notable boost considering he developed into Ohio State’s all-time receiving touchdowns leader (35) and the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. In 55 games across four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Olave has recorded 291 receptions for 3,728 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Other options include Dawand Jones, the No. 1,127 overall prospect in the 2018 class, and Hamilton’s younger brother, Ty Hamilton, the No. 757 overall prospect in the 2020 class. Jones was a fourth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2023 and has started 17 games for the franchise, while Hamilton was a fifth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2025 and appeared in 15 games as a rookie.

 OHIO STATE, TOURNAMENT TEAM. In a press conference on Monday, Jake Diebler said his Ohio State team is “the deepest team we’ve had, and I don’t know that it’s even close.”

Around the same time Diebler made those comments to Ohio State beat reporters, CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter released his Big Ten tiers for all 18 teams, grouping them into five categories: title contenders, top 25 caliber clubs, tournament teams, bubble teams, and the basement.

He placed Ohio State in the third tier — “tournament team” — alongside Nebraska, Iowa, Purdue, UCLA, and Maryland. Here’s what he wrote about the Buckeyes:

Bruce Thornton is irreplaceable, but Ohio State looks primed to be just fine. Jake Diebler's ability to retain both sharpshooter Juni Mobley and burly forward A'mare Bynum is the initial pitch here. OSU could certainly get 25-to-30 points a night from that duo, and Mobley will be in the mix to lead the Big Ten in triples. Then you toss in five-star freshman wing Anthony Thompson, who is a shot-making, 6-foot-8 southpaw? And a quartet of playable transfers who hail from top-10 leagues? There's something here.

Ohio State finally has real depth with nine Big Ten-caliber rotation players. Cal transfer Justin Pippen provides a playmaking point guard who can defend, shoot enough (51 3s at a 33% clip) and shift Mobley to an off-ball, score-first role. Duquesne transfer wing Jimmie Williams is all of 6-foot-5 and can pass, dribble and shoot. Memphis transfer guard Curtis Givens III projects to be a bucket-getter for the second unit. Kentucky transfer forward Andrija Jelavic is a connective piece who can play the 4 or a small-ball 5 and bring shooting, ball movement and offensive rebounding. Ohio State got basically no second-chance points last year (9.9 per game, 29th percentile), but that should tick up if ex-Baylor big fella Josh Ojianwuna (2.7 offensive rebounds per game in 2024-25) can get healthy and knock the rust off after missing all of last year with a leg injury.

Six of Ohio State's top-eight players are newcomers, which raises the risk profile if they don't mesh, but the shooting, five-star talent and influx of depth should keep OSU afloat.

With its current roster construction, Ohio State’s ceiling is a top-25 caliber team, and its floor is an NCAA Tournament team. I don’t see the Buckeyes being on the bubble next year unless something catastrophic happens.

But I don’t even want to entertain that kind of scenario right now. Right now, I’m feeling hopeful and optimistic about the Basketbucks, and that’s a wonderful thing.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Summer Baby" - Jonas Brothers.

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