Ohio State's coaching staff often asks its players to give relentless effort on the field and in turn, the staff themselves set a good example by giving relentless effort on the recruiting front.
As of yesterday, the Buckeyes offered a pair of 2014 recruits, '14 4-star RB Joe Mixon and '14 4-star CB Stepheny Durham. Mixon is a 6'2", 195-pound running back from California and in 2012, rushed for 1,100 yards for 24 touchdowns. Durham checks in at 5'11", 185-pounds and is from the state of Florida. While Urban Meyer has previously stated that he wants to start recruiting the state of Ohio a bit more than they have in the past, there's no harm in trying to send feelers out to other states with top prospects, either.
Some interesting news came from '14 5-star LB Raekwon McMillan recently, as McMillan told reporters that he now plans on announcing in the fall($), and will choose to enroll early to whichever school he ends up picking. It should be noted that McMillan plans on visiting Ohio State this spring (maybe for the spring game?) and will most likely have picked his top school and know his top five at that point. Keep in mind that if McMillan is planning on having a leader near the same time he visits Ohio State, you have to wonder if he's looking at the world through scarlet-colored glasses.
'14 4-star RB Elijah Hood has had the Buckeyes on his radar very early in the process, and the interest is considered mutual at this point. It showed yesterday, as Hood released his top five favorites that are shown above. They are in order:
RT @tomvh top group for RB Elijah Hood,In order as of now 1.Notre Dame 2.North Carolina 3.Clemson 4.Ohio State 5.T Georgia Tech 5.T Michigan
— Charles Doss (@CDoss_LGHL) February 12, 2013
While Ohio State sits fourth, we've seen coach Meyer and his staff close that gap in a hurry before. Hood caught the eye of many big programs following his huge junior season in 2012, where he rushed for an eye-popping 3,309 yards on 278 carries. Hood also had 48 rushing touchdowns in addition to those incredible rushing yards. Hood also runs the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds, and is listed as 5'11", 209-pounds.
Check out the highlights Hood had in just the first half of this past season alone:
Finally, check out some highlights of the aforementioned Joe Mixon and Stepheny Durham below as well: