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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 3/8 - One big visitor

Ohio State played host to a 6-foot 5-inch, 260-pound bruiser from Lakota East on Thursday while the SEC's top two programs offered scholarships to several Buckeye targets. Check out the recruit's reactions and all of Thursday's recruiting news.

By zrc11
#75 Jarrett LaRubbio celebrating with his teammates. Could the recent Buckeye visitor end up in Columbus?
#75 Jarrett LaRubbio celebrating with his teammates. Could the recent Buckeye visitor end up in Columbus?

A product of Lakota East, 2014 offensive guard Jarrett LaRubbio made the trek from Middletown to Columbus to watch the Buckeyes' second spring practice of 2013. LaRubbio is listed at 6'5", 260 pounds and holds offers from Pittsburgh, Akron, Arizona State, Bowling Green, Duke, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, and Toledo. Despite being unranked by most major recruiting websites, LaRubbio will surely garner many more offers and attain some sort of star ranking soon. Grade him yourself with highlights from weeks one through four of his junior season here:

While Coach Urban Meyer was coaching up the troops and hosting LaRubbio, Nick Saban and Les Miles made some serious moves, offering several key 2014 Buckeye targets. 4-star outside linebacker Dillon Bates, 4-star wide receiver Derek Kief, and 3-star cornerback Chris Lammons were offered by the Alabama Crimson Tide yesterday, and all expressed their excitement via twitter:

Dillon is the son of former Tennessee Volunteers 4-year starter and Dallas Cowboys safety Bill Bates and hails from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Dillon is ranked the 8th-best outside linebacker in the country (247Sports' Composite Rankings) and holds offers from Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), South Carolina, Texas, Ole Miss, and many, many more. I caught up with Dillon after he announced his Alabama offer on twitter, and he stated, "this whole experience is a dream come true and to be offered by the number one team in the country is very humbling and makes me want to strive to be the best I can be." I've spoke to Dillon several times throughout his recruitment process, and the kid never ceases to impress me. I am very confident he will thrive at whatever school he ends up selecting.

For Kief, Alabama marks his second SEC offer after Kentucky. The Cincinnati product was also offered by West Virginia late Thursday, solidifying a big day for the speedster. We'll keep you posted on how his recruitment pans out and if he snags any other SEC offers. Lammons received a Buckeye offer a few weeks ago, and has only recently exploded onto the recruiting scene. Don't let the 3-star rating fool you, Lammons has talent and his prospect will surely rise in the coming months.

4-star wide receiver Saeed Blacknall was also offered by an SEC school, only LSU was the one giving the good word. I spoke with Blacknall last week, and at that time he had zero offers from SEC schools. I spoke with Blacknall after his LSU offer and he seemed thrilled, telling me he was "shocked, happy, and excited at the same time!" Many, many more offers are to come for Saeed, but he was thrilled about his February 13th Buckeye offer. Let's hope the Buckeyes stay in the game with this rising stud.

The Michigan State Spartans played host last night to two Buckeye targets, one of which was a recent (but short in duration) Ohio State commit. Ex-Buckeye commit and 4-star defensive end Lawrence Marshall joined wide receiver Maurice Ways for a visit to East Lansing:

Another elite Ohio State target headed elsewhere is 4-star tight end Jeb Blazevich. The Charlotte, North Carolina product made the trek to Athens to see Georgia's campus:

Charles Doss is our hoops recruiting expert here at Land-Grant Holy Land, and he dug up a great dunking video of future Buckeye Jae'Sean Tate. There can't be a much better way to wrap up a recruiting update than with a dunk montage, so everyone enjoy:

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