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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/28 - latest on Ezekiel Elliott, Trey Johnson visits

What was supposed to be a riveting weekend on the recruiting trail turned out mostly a wash, after news let out that two Buckeye commits, Ezekiel Elliott and Trey Johnson, both went on visits to other schools.

By Ian Cuevas
'13 LB commit Trey Johnson took a visit to Tennessee, making some Buckeye fans nervous.
'13 LB commit Trey Johnson took a visit to Tennessee, making some Buckeye fans nervous.
Diana N. Ngo Facebook

It was another busy weekend for the Ohio State recruiting staff, as they hosted another key group of recruits, headed by '13 WR/RB Dontre Wilson and '13 WR James Clark. From everything that we've heard so far, both Wilson and Clark had a great time in Columbus. The Buckeyes are recruiting Wilson as a possible slot receiver/running back. Wilson stands at 5'10", 165-pounds and rushed for 1,800 yards and 38 touchdowns during his senior season. He also had 760 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through the air. In all, Wilson contributed 49 total touchdowns for his high school team, something not many can say they did. Wilson will be taking one more visit to Oklahoma State before deciding where he will attend school and is expected to announce on or just before National Signing Day '13.

Clark, meanwhile, had the reportedly best time of the two. He told multiple recruitniks about how much he loved it at Ohio State and how impressed he was by the program's blend of both academic and athletic pedigree. The 4-star receiver caught 49 passes for 1,112 yards and eight touchdowns during his senior season. Clark will also make another visit to Florida, which is one of his top three schools that has Clemson, Ohio State and the Gators in the mix. The visit with Florida will be unofficial, but Clark's decision will be made on National Signing Day. We had heard that it would not have been a surprise if Clark committed to Ohio State while on his visit, but now that his visit is finished, there's been no sign of a commitment just yet.

We knew going into the weekend that '13 RB commit Ezekiel Elliott would be taking a visit to Columbia, Missouri to visit the Tigers' campus ($), but that didn't make it any easier to digest for Ohio State fans. The 6'0", 212-pound Elliott was joined by his parents on the visit, and left pretty impressed. There's been no solid word on what this means for Ohio State, but Stan Drayton is expected to visit with Elliott on Monday at his home. Elliott has been committed since last April, and the meeting with Drayton is expected to be some sort of "finalization" with papers for National Signing Day. We'll certainly keep an eye on this, but I personally am not too worried.

In a far more surprising turn of events, '13 LB commit Trey Johnson really got people nervous when the rumor of him visiting another school grew legs as word leaked that Johnson was on the campus of Tennessee. This was a bit of a shocker, but again, other than the surprise of it all, probably isn't anything worth sweating. Johnson's father is quoted as saying that Trey went down to visit with a linebackers coach that he's grown a bit closer to and basically to have fun. The linebacker is still "100%" committed to Ohio State, which means we can rest easy. Perhaps this explains Mark Pantoni's recent tweet:

On the lighter side of things, the Buckeyes don't focus on one thing at a time, as Ohio State offered '14 WR Dallis Todd, who they're rumored to lead on:

Ohio State also sat down with '14 OL Lukayus McNeil recently and had a talk with the offensive tackle. Checking in at 6'7", 260-pounds, McNeil fits the mold that Coach Meyer and Ed Warinner like their linemen to fit. The Buckeyes haven't offered as of yet, but it's only a matter of time with plenty of opportunities to earn the offer for McNeil.

'13 WR Devin Lauderdale committed to Texas Tech again, (he decommitted in early December) pretty much knocking him out of the race to be that hail mary receiver commit to wrap up the 2013 class.

Also worth noting, '13 Ohio State commit, ATH Christopher Worley received an offer from Florida State on Sunday, and after the Elliott/Johnson situations, it would probably be in his best interest to not say much more about the Seminoles. At least, for Buckeye fans' sake:

Worley's stated that he's 100% Ohio State, so it's probably not anything to pay any mind to.

And don't forget about '13 RB/WR Ryan Timmons. In the final days counting down to National Signing Day, he has decided to take an official visit to Florida the weekend of February 1, ruining Ohio State's plan of being his last official visit. Timmons' decision will be made later that week, one day before National Signing Day at 1 PM. Timmons has long been thought to be the most logical of the still outstanding Buckeye targets to wind up in Columbus. But given that he took a somewhat surprising in its own right last second unofficial visit to Kentucky this past weekend, the picture is becoming far cloudier to project.

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