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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 5/21 - Urban Meyer, Thad Matta dish out offers

Urban Meyer and Thad Matta both sent out offers Monday plus the football staff were all over the United States. Get caught up with all the info from another eventful day in the world of Buckeye recruiting.

Buckeye assistant coach Stan Drayton stopped in on 2014 linebacker Vincent Jackson while in Florida Monday.
Buckeye assistant coach Stan Drayton stopped in on 2014 linebacker Vincent Jackson while in Florida Monday.

The Buckeyes football coaches have offered numerous recruits over the last few days including North Carolina defensive end Lorenzo Featherston and Texas prospects Mavin Saunders and Chris Warren. Monday was no different, as the staff offered a couple prospects.

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2015 offensive lineman Jake Fruhmorgen was one of the prospects to receive an offer for a full ride scholarship. The 6-5 270 sophomore comes from a pretty solid pedigree; Jake happens to be the son of former Alabama and Miami Dolphins offensive lineman, John Fruhmorgen. Ohio State isn't the only team to get in on the tackle early; Florida State, Clemson and Vanderbilt all have offered, while programs such as Alabama, Notre Dame and other are giving the junior to be plenty of attention. When asked how it felt to be offered by a program with the storied history as Ohio State, Fruhmorgen told Land-Grant Holy Land "Its an honor and a privilege." Jake added, "it's been a little overwhelming with such great schools offering." When asked if he would attend camp in June he jokingly said, "might be now that I received the offer."

Another prospect offered by the Bucks Monday was 2014 Cocoa, Florida prospect Freddie Booth-Lloyd. The 6-3 280 pound under the radar lineman told me the following when it came to his Buckeye offer and recruitment: "I found out about the offer from my head coach. The Ohio State offensive line coach [Ed Warinner] came to my school last Wednesday and said he liked my footwork and technique at defensive tackle, I plan on camping at OSU this summer." Booth-Lloyd also stated the Buckeyes now join a list of schools such as Iowa State, South Florida, Michigan State and Troy to have offered him.

Buckeye assistant coach Stan Drayton stopped by Tampa Florida's Jesuit High Monday to visit with 2014 linebacker Vincent Jackson. The 6-2 235 pound three-star prospect reaffirmed that the Buckeyes still have an offer for him: " I actually got offered originally by Ohio State as a sophomore, but they confirmed it with me that the offer was still on the table," Jackson told our Luke Zimmermann. Vincent has already visited Alabama and Auburn to name a couple but from the sounds of things he wouldn't mind taking a trip up north, too. "I would like to visit OSU; maybe even take an official there." The Bucks might have their hands full with the aforementioned Crimson Tide and Tigers as well as teams like Miami and Texas A&M in trying to land Jackson.

Coach Drayton didn't just check in with Vincent Jackson; the Ohio State wide receivers coach also made the short trip to Lakeland and watched three star defensive back Kendall Gant and his Lake Gibson teammates practice. Most of the top schools have offered Gant, including the Buckeyes, Alabama, Florida, Louisville and a gang of others. Even though he didn't really have a chance to speak with Drayton Monday, he might be meeting with the staff sooner rather than later. The ball hawking DB told me that he might be visiting the Columbus campus over the summer.

Coach Kerry Coombs headed north to Michigan Monday. One of the schools Coombs stopped at during the trip was Brother Rice in Bloomfield Hills. While at Brother Rice, the exuberant OSU coach spoke with 2014 running back Brian Walker and 2015 quarterback Alex Malzone, who were both invited to attend camp this summer. I spoke with Malzone to see how the visit went:

"Coach Coombs said he liked what he's heard about me. He told me a little about their program and that Coach Meyer only takes people he's seen throw live. He wants me to come to one of their camps."

Mike Vrabel took to the streets of Illinois again, this time checking in on some of the top talent in the state. Vrabel stopped in at Plainfield South High, the home of 2014 linebacker Clifton Garrett. The Buckeyes were at one time towards the top of the list for the 6-2 230 pound LB, but most now believe he will end up in the SEC. Another prospect Vrabel checked in with was offensive lineman Jamarco Jones. The 6-5 290 pound De La Salle tackle should be no stranger to Buckeye fans; Jones has visited Columbus a few times and is a part of Core 6 Athletes, the same training firm OSU commits Dylan Thompson and Lonnie Johnson are part of. Another recruit Coach Vrabel stopped in to check in on was another linebacker, this time 6-2 230 pound Crete-Monee senior to be Nyles Morgan. Even though the Bucks have offered Morgan, he seems pretty high on Florida, Ole Miss, Michigan State and others.

Don't think Thad Matta and the basketball Bucks aren't at as well; the Ohio State basketball team offered 2015 point guard Isaiah Briscoe Monday afternoon. The 6-3 205 four star sophomore is one of the top guards in his class and has proved it this summer by going out and averaging nearly 20 points a game so far this AAU season. Briscoe has offers from Arizona, Syracuse, and Baylor to go along with his brand new OSU and Indiana offers. Isaiah's father told ZagsBlog.com that he wouldn't be surprised to see the Buckeyes make his sons top five. See why so many teams are after Briscoe with these highlights below:

QUICK HITS:

  • While in Michigan recruiting Monday, Coach Coombs visited with 2015 OL David Moorman. David told me Coach Coombs said that he would be a great fit at OSU and invited him to attend camp.
  • Coach Coombs also visited with 2015 Oak Park High School defensive back John Kelly.
  • Coach Drayton also watched practice at Lakeland Christian. Drayton had an eye of 2015 prospects Christian Alexander and T.J. Simmons.
  • Ohio State assistant coach Tim Hinton was in California Monday to take in La Mirada High School's practice. La Mirada is the home of 2014 tight end Tyler Luatua, wide receiver Dallis Todd and 2015 quarterback Kevin Dillman.
  • An Ohio State coach visited with 2015 Maryland DT Adam McClean on Monday.
  • Luke Fickell was in Pennsylvania and visited with 2014 three star running back Robert Martin.
  • According to Cleveland Browns DB Joe Haden, his brother Jonathan, a 2014 running back out of Maryland has named his top 4. The Buckeyes, Arizona, Tennessee and West Virginia made the cut.
  • Per Wells Dusenbery, Ohio State stopped by Vero Bach (FL) High School last week and checked out 2014 WR/DB Will Dawkins.
  • 2014 defensive back and current Ohio State target Mattrell McGraw will name his top 7 on Sunday.
  • 2014 Walsh Jesuit K/P Mike Knoll talked with Coach Coombs recently and plans to camp at OSU this summer.
  • 2014 punter Ian Jump will camp at Ohio State.
  • 2015 Malvern (OH) OL/DL Eddie Zinn-Turner will also attend camp
  • Ohio State is showing interest in 2015 Maryland shooting guard C.J. Keyser.