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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 7/18 - Brandon Harris, Damien Mama, & basketball recruiting news

Top QB recruit Brandon Harris will make his college choice this afternoon. We break down his chances, along with a big helping of college basketball recruiting news, including the exploits of OSU commit D'Angelo Russell.

By Adam Waters

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Brandon Harris, will it be Ohio State, LSU or Auburn
Brandon Harris, will it be Ohio State, LSU or Auburn
Student Sports

Today is the day dual-threat quarterback Brandon Harris will make his college choice. Harris who is ranked the third best player at his position will choose between Auburn, Ohio State and instate favorite LSU. Earlier this week it was looking to be a battle between Auburn and LSU, but that was before Elite Eleven MVP quarterback Sean White pledged his commitment to the Tigers of Auburn.

With 2014 quarterback Stephen Collier from Georgia already committed to the Buckeyes some believe the Buckeyes will not take two quarterbacks in this class because of a lack of room. Personally, I think if a player with Brandon's skill wants to be a Buckeye, they'll make room for him. Last year at Parkway High School Harris racked up more than 3,300 yards of total offense and thirty-eight total touchdowns. You will be able to watch the commitment ceremony live on espn.com at 3pm EST. Out of the thirty-five Crystal Ball Predictions on 247 Sports thirty-four of them have Harris picking instate favorite LSU. As I believe Harris will stay home, I wouldn't be surprised to see Harris pick the Buckeyes and Coach Urban Meyer.

The Bruins of UCLA made a big splash yesterday in getting a commitment from WR/TE Austin Roberts out of Carmel, Indiana. Last week it seemed Austin was leaning toward the Buckeyes, before UCLA threw an offer at Roberts on the eleventh of July and surprisingly committed just a week later. Austin, who was supposed to be visiting Ohio State next week for Friday Night Lights, has since said he will not be making the trip to Columbus for the recruiting showcase first reported by 247 Sports.

Roberts had this to say about his commitment to UCLA.

"Coach Jim Mora definitely is the man to bring UCLA back to prominence. They have a couple of highly-rated NFL prospects there and a great recruiting class. I can't wait to get there and help them win a Rose Bowl."

Damien Mama who is considered the second best offensive guard in the country by 247 sports released his Top 13. The Buckeyes made the cut for the big fella, but I just don't see him in the Scarlet and Gray. The team to beat for his commitment looks to be Southern Cal, but I wouldn't rule out Alabama where he as an official visit scheduled for November 8th.

Now lets talk some Ohio State basketball and see what is going on around the country. The Nike Global Challenge kicks off today in Washington D.C., and runs through Sunday. The challenge will feature thirty of the top high school players in America including some Ohio State commits and targets.

D'Angelo Russell, who is currently a '14 Buckeye commit will be playing for USA South just a weekend after he helped lead E1T1 to a championship at the Nike Peach Jam. During the Peach Jam, Russell put up some monster numbers as he recorded a triple-double in the semifinal game and then posted 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in the Championship game.

Jae'Sean Tate who will join Russell in the '14 class will be playing for USA Midwest. Tate was supposed to be joining up with Ohio State targets Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, but the tag team has since then pulled out of the competition. Tate who is from Pickerington, Ohio will be the next Central Ohio star to stay at home and play for the Buckeyes.

One of the latest players to receive an Ohio State offer is Boston, Massachusetts Goodluck Okonoboh. The Buckeyes offered the 6'9 Goodluck after watching him live this last week in Indianapolis. Okonoboh has offers from many of the big schools such as Duke, Indiana, Louisville and more. He is currently rated a five star player and the nineteenth best player in the ESPN100.

Switching from the 2014 class to the 2015 class, guard Isaiah Briscoe, who holds an Ohio State offer, will be playing for USA East. Briscoe, who seems to be favoring Arizona at this point, hasn't eliminated the Buckeyes from the picture. Isaiah plays his prep ball at St. Benedict's Preparatory School, which counts Big Ten commish James Delany as a fellow graduate.

The Buckeyes will have two targets playing for USA West in Elijah Thomas and Ivan Rabb, both of which are rated in the Top 8 of 247 2015 player rankings. It would be nice to land one of these players but in the end I don't see the Buckeyes getting a commitment from either.

Montaque Gill-Ceasar, who is at top 50 player in the 2015 class, will also be in action this weekend. Montaque, who plays his high school basketball for Huntington Prep, will play for his homeland in Team Canada. He currently holds offers from Baylor, Ohio State, Purdue and UCF.

Also this weekend the Buckeyes are represented in the Under Armour Summer Jam, which takes place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Buckeye commit Keita Bates-Diop, who is the twenty-first ranked player in the country and his Illinois Wolves took on Team Thad and Buckeye target Leron Black in one of the games, with Team Thad coming out on top 73-70 in overtime. KBD scored sixteen points in the losing effort while Black added 12 for Team Thad. One time Buckeye target Chris Chiozza, who is now committed to Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators, also plays for Team Thad. Leron Black is rated the thirty-sixth best player in the ESPN100 and some believe in the end he will joining Chris Chiozza in Gainesville.

Class of 2014 big man Myles Turner played in front of Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta last night. The near 7-0 tall Turner and his Texas Select teammates took on the Mac Irvin Fire, who were playing without fellow Ohio State target Jahlil Okafor. Even without Okafor, the Fire didn't have any problems with Texas Select, despite a decent outing from Turner (9pts,10rebs,3blks) they ran away with a 59-36 blow out victory.

Dream Vision led by class of 2015 power forward and Ohio State target Stephen Zimmerman played the DC Assault to end the first day of the Summer Jam. Even though Zimmerman impressed almost everyone in the stands with flashes of his all around game, it wasn't enough to stop the Assault, who snuck out with a 67-64 overtime victory.

Point guard Kaleb Joseph, forward Goodluck Okonoboh and their Mass Rivals club took on House of Sports (NY) at the Hoop Group Summer Classic East in Pennsylvania yesterday. Both 2014 prospects received offers from Ohio State earlier this week. Going down the stretch it looked like the Buckeye targets might have been about to take an "L" until Joseph made a nice cut to the rim, knocked down a bucket, only to get fouled and with ice water running through his veins, hits the foul shot to tie the game up at 55. In overtime, Joseph did it again, driving to the whole and hitting a runner at the buzzer to lead Mass Rivals over House of Sports (NY). Since tons of college coaches were on hand for the game, I would put money on both Joseph and Okonoboh having new offers in the mail within the next few days.

QUICK HITS:

- '17 QB Danny Clark will not be at FNL. Here is what his father told me, "We got word from the compliance department at Ohio State this morning, that due to Danny's age and grade, we would be breaking NCAA rules if he attended."

- 2015 point guard Jalen Brunson tells Scott Phillips of NY2LASports.com that Ohio State and Michigan are recruiting him the hardest right now.

- 44 more days till the Buckeyes take on the Bulls of Buffalo.

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