Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/15 - James Clark, Kyrin Priester offered

Urban Meyer and his 12-0 Ohio State coaching staff simply refuse to rest on their laurels. Just a shade more than 24 hours following securing the commitment of consensus 4-star class of 2014 CB Damon Webb (who some have said may be the best cornerback in that class when everything's said and done), Meyer's wasted no time in making headway on a perhaps even more interesting Michigan based prospect.

Monday evening, Ohio State officially offered '14 4-star WR Drake Harris, a current Michigan State commit. Where things get interesting (beyond the fact that this is only sure to further rile former Ohio State defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio and the ever prone to accustations of dirty pool, MSU DC Pat Narduzzi), is that Harris also happens to be a 4-star 2014 basketball recruit. Not only is Harris expected to potentially suit up and catch the pigskin for Sparty, but Tom Izzo was banking on him playing the off guard for the always dangerous Spartans men's basketball team, too.

As of yet, it doesn't appear that Thad Matta is interested in recruiting Harris in the same capacity. Maybe Urban should consider getting on the phone with his basketball counterpart and figuring out how to work together for the greater Buckeye good.

Sticking with hoops for a quick moment, it sounds like Matta, Jeff Boals, and the men's basketball staff have their eyes on a prospect straight out of the 2015 recruiting circuit. North Atlanta (GA) big man Noah Dickerson is expecting a visit from the Buckeyes' staff tomorrow. With other interest from Xavier, Notre Dame, and George Mason, Ohio State would quickly become the largest fish in a smaler pond for the power forward's services. The 6-7 Dickerson is said to be the prototypical Buckeye big and could be a huge get for Matta.

But now to the news you came for: Despite an in-home visit Monday night from new Florida Gators wide receivers coach (and former Kentucky head man) Joker Phillips, '13 WR James Clark is still in the process of ironing out just how serious he's going to consider the Buckeyes. Ohio State officially gave Clark a committable offer Monday. We should know later this morning whether or not Clark will be visiting Ohio State this weekend or not:

He also said he should know by Tuesday which school he will visit this weekend between Ohio State and Clemson. He is coming off a visit to Nebraska and has also visited Purdue, so he has just two official visits remaining.

"It's still in the air," Clark texted. "I'll talk to both tonight so I'll know in the morning."

But the Buckeyes naturally aren't putting all their eggs in one basket:

Offered By The Ohio State Today #Blessed!

— KYRIN PRIESTER (@KyPriester) January 15, 2013

3-star WR Kyrin Priester is currently committed to former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren and the NC State Wolfpack. He's long been one of the favorites in that class by Wolfpack faithful, and with his offer Monday evening, could represent a sentiment amongst the coaching staff that Shelton Gibson may not have his standardized test scores situation ironed out or that Corn Elder either isn't interested or not a good fit.

The situation is only further compounded by the drama surrounding JUCO WR Corey Smith. Some early reports Monday inaccurately attributed a report to Scout's Bill "Bank" Greene that Smith was an imminent commit for the Buckeyes. As we discussed in our article about former Buckeye Verlon Reed, what Greene actually stated was that while things were looking good with Smith, they were by no means a done deal yet:

Scout's Bill "Bank" Greene said on 97.1 The Fan's "Bishop & Rothman" radio program earlier today that, "I think there's still some i's that need dotted, maybe some t's crossed. But I think that's going to get worked out this week. I think Urban's going to go down there to Mississippi, talk to his coach, check out the transcript a little closer and I think if everything fits, then I think Corey Smith will flip from Mississippi State."

If we were ever to put someone on commit watch, however, Smith would almost certainly fit that bill.

Speaking of erroneous reports, there were some rumors from an ESPN radio host in Chattanooga late Monday afternoon that Vonn Bell, who left his official visit to Ohio State without committing, may have given a "soft-verbal" to Alabama head coach Nick Saban during an in-home visit Monday afternoon. It didn't take long for these to be disproven.

While it's not hard to imagine Bell still winding up in Tuscaloosa when the dust settles, at least for now, he's sticking to his plan to commit on National Signing Day 2013, February 6th.

Finally, in one more bit of visit news, it sounds like Kerry Coombs, Ohio State's emphatic defensive backs coach, is on his way to meet with '15 RB Jordan Scarlett and '14 S Quincy Wilson. Let's just say they don't call him the closer for nothing, folks: