Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 3/4 - The weekend that was

In a little bit of basketball recruiting news, Ohio State visited with '14 shooting guard Jaquan Lyle, who has an offer from the Buckeyes and head coach Thad Matta. Many believe that the 2014 class could be Matta's best in recent memory, which mirrors the situation with coach Meyer and the football team. Lyle is a 6'5", 195-pound shooting guard from Evansville, Indiana. He is ranked 15th in the country per the 247Composite Rating. Lyle is the No. 2 recruit in Indiana and is the No. 3 hooting Guard in the nation, holding 18 total offers.

While football spring practice is upon us, head coach Urban Meyer isn't just focusing on preparing his team to make a title run. Meyer has the coaching staff working around the clock to keep up with the best recruiting classes in the country, and in his year and a half at Ohio State, Meyer has done just that. After finishing in the top three in the 2013 recruiting class, the Buckeyes hope to surpass even that, with the class of 2014.

Another offer went out this past Friday, to '14 S Kendall Gant from the state of Florida. Gant actually received lots of attention this weekend, picking up offers from Alabama, Ohio State and Louisville to add to the previous two from South Florida and Kentucky. The 6'2", 185-pounder recently stated that he would like to play in the SEC, which doesn't do Ohio State any real favors. Here's Gant's highlight film for your viewing pleasure:

'14 QB target Caleb Henderson hasn't yet received an offer from Ohio State, as the Buckeyes continue to hold out hope that they can flip '14 QB and Clemson commit DeShaun Watson. This weekend, though, Henderson received two offers from Miami (FL.) and Purdue, giving him eight total scholarship offers. Henderson completed 210 of 327 passes last season for 2,435 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed 103 times for 453 yards and nine touchdowns.

'14 TE Jeb Blazevich recently sat down with ESPN's Recruiting Nation and discussed his performance at some combines and what the latest was on his "finalists" which included Ohio State in the mix. I was pretty impressed by what Blazevich had to say on the topics at hand, so check out the video interview:

We spoke with Blazevich in late December about his recruiting process and the Buckeyes in particular, so be sure to take a peek at that again.

Finally, it wasn't too long ago that Ohio State received a commitment from '14 DE Lawrence Marshall only to lose that commitment three days later in what has been one of the weirdest recruiting stories so far this year. What's worse is that the recruiting story is getting uglier, and coaches are taking shots at Ohio State's style of recruiting. From the article itself:

His change of heart came when his family encouraged him to take a hard look at whether he'd made the most informed choice. He eventually concluded that he hadn't, thanks in large part to trips to Michigan State and Michigan on Feb. 12 and 13, respectively.

"I went up to Michigan State and saw how they were, and I went up to Michigan and saw how they were and I was like, 'I just made my decision too early,'" Marshall admitted. "I (initially said) I would wait it out until after my football season. I had a great time (in Columbus Feb. 9-10) and it was crazy, but it was just going too fast. I'm trying to slow it back down."

Things got even sticker when Marshall was told directly by Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio (a former Ohio State defensive coordinator):

'You've got to find the truth in people. You've got to figure out if they're really there for you or if they just want you because you're a kid from Michigan. (ed.: emphasis ours)'