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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 2/26 - Hood, McDowell, & more

While head football coach Urban Meyer was enjoying his last few hours basking in sun on the 2013 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer, the rest of the Buckeye staff were on their grind, trying to bring another top recruiting class to Columbus.

By Charles Doss
After visiting numerous other schools, 2014 Georgia safety Cortez McDowell will visit Ohio State in April.
After visiting numerous other schools, 2014 Georgia safety Cortez McDowell will visit Ohio State in April.

Fresh off an exciting weekend where 2014 running back Elijah Hood visited Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State, the five-star stud announced Monday that those three teams will fight it out for his talents. The 6-0 210 lb bruiser, who rushed for an outrageous 3,309 yards and 48 touchdowns last season as a junior for Charlotte Christian high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, trimmed his list to three from a long list of scholarship offers that included Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina & Mississippi to name a few. After annoucing his top list, Elijah spoke with Brad Bournival of the ESPN affiliated Ohio State website BuckeyeNation and stated he would like to make his college choice sometime in the spring.

The Ohio State coaching staff have been planting the Buckeye flag in the state of Georgia as of late, with many of the peach states top talent receiving a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes. One of those talented prospects that the staff would love to bring up north is 2014 safety Cortez McDowell. The 6-1 205 lb McDowell who has visited Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina announced Monday that he would like to check out what Columbus has to offer sometime in April. When I had the chance to catch up with Cortez he mentioned he might try to make it up to the 614 on April 6th. The ball-hawk safety is not just a beast on the football field, he also stars on the Locust Grove baseball squad.

Some of the Buckeye faithful out there have been calling Gary, Indiana native and West high school athlete Lonnie Johnson a Buckeye lock, but in the immortal words of Lee Corso, "not so fast, my friend". The Kentucky Wildcats have offered the 6'3 190 pounder, adding to a list that includes the likes of Ohio State, Illinois and Nebraska. From the sound of things whatever Big Blue Nation is cooking, Johnson seems to want a plate:

Speaking of Kentucky, 2014 Lima (OH) Central Catholic defensive back Darius West visited Lexington over the weekend. The 6-0 185 lb prospect didn't hold anything back when letting people know how much he enjoyed his visit, even going as far as saying he could see himself committing there. Before Darius decides to end his recruitment the three star West would like to visit Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Tennessee. Darius is no stranger to Columbus, who has already took a few unofficial visits to Ohio State.

After missing out on Marcus Outlow, who committed to Boston College last week, it looks like the staff has set their sites on another 2014 east coast speedster. Curtis Samuel, a 6-0 185 lb athlete out of Brooklyn,New York told me that he is in contact with Coach Warinner the most and that he received his Ohio State scholarship offer last week. Samuel, who runs a reported 4.45 second forty yard dash has the Buckeyes, Boston College, Rutgers, Notre Dame and Virginia all after him for his services. Another speed demon in 2014 Akron St. Vincent St. Mary running back and Ohio State commit Parris Campbell received a four star ranking by 247Sports Monday, the site previously had the 6-0 185 lb Campbell unranked.

The Buckeyes have two offensive lineman committed in the class of 2014 so far and are looking to add a couple more to the fold before next February rolls around. Florida tackle Mason Cole won't be one of those prospects, the 6'5 285 sunshine state hog committed to Michigan over the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC and many others. Even though the Bucks struck out on Cole, the staff have many talented prospects on their radar including high school targets Jamarco Jones, KC McDermott, Denzel Ward and junior college transfers Chad Mavety and Jermaine Eluemunor to name a few.

In Buckeye basketball recruiting news, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta traveled to Baltimore, Maryland Monday to watch future Buckeye guard Kameron Williams and 2014 forward Phil Booth play in the Baltimore Catholic League Championship. Williams,Booth and their Mount St. Joseph teammates came out victorious in front of the Buckeye boss, winning the championship by a demanding final score of 73-56 over Archbishop Spalding. Kameron finished with 14 points and was named first team all tournament team, while Booth chipped in 10 points and was named MVP.

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