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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 7/29 - Demetrius Knox commits

Ohio State adds #15, plus with Friday Night Lights in the books, we look back one more time at who starred at the event, as well as see what is going on in the basketball recruiting world.

By Adam Waters
The newest Ohio State commit, Demetrius Knox.
The newest Ohio State commit, Demetrius Knox.

The Buckeyes capped a busy recruiting weekend by adding their fifteenth commit to the class of 2014 in OG Demetrius Knox. Knox, the sixth best offensive guard in his class, the 15th best player hailing from the state of Texas, and the 103rd best total player in the country (per the 247Composite rankings), joins a loaded o-line haul that already includes Marcelys Jones, Kyle Trout, and Jamarco Jones. If the Buckeyes close with the likes of Chad Mavety or Damian Prince, we're talking about the foundation for a College Football Playoff run capable offensive line.

It didn't take long for the other members of the "Dream '14" to congratulate Knox and sing his praises. Jamarco Jones, Stephen Collier, and Jalyn Holmes all quickly got in on the act, speaking to the family atmosphere that is helping Mark Pantoni, Urban Meyer, and company put together one of the nation's top classes.

Ohio State's football season is only thirty three days away and with that college's high schools camps are coming to an end. The Ohio State University held its second annual Friday Night Lights this past Friday and it didn't disappoint. Many of the top players came to the event and even one of them received an Ohio State offer.

Braxton Berrios once again showed off his talents at FNL for the Ohio State coaching staff just like he did last year at the event. This time the coaching staff finally pulled the trigger and offered the 5-8 speedster out of Raleigh, North Carolina. Last year at Leesville Road High School, Berrios put up monster numbers, rushing for more than 1,100 yards and hauling in over 750 yards. If the yards are not enough for you, maybe his 32 touchdowns will make you smile just a little. You definitely can see why he would be a great get for the Buckeyes. Berrios has offers from the likes of Clemson, Kentucky, Miami (FL), South Carolina and more, but some believe with this latest offer from Ohio State they will vault to the top of his leader board.

Braxton will be graduating early from high school so he can enroll early and compete in spring drills. He has yet to say what schools he will be taking his official visits, too, but I would say its safe to say the Buckeyes will get one of them.

I was able to catch up with 2014 commit Stephen Collier to see his thoughts on the explosive wide receiver. Here's what he had to say about the offer to Berrios:

"I will be all over Braxton Berrios trying to get him to Columbus."

Below is his highlight tape from his Junior season:

The name that was being thrown around all over Twitter on Friday night was that of 2015 athlete Eric Glover-Williams. EGW is rated a four star on 247Sports' Composite rankings and the fiftieth best player in the '15 class. Eric put on a show at FNL, sporting his red Superman shirt and making plays all over the field. Some of the best action came when he was lined up against future Buckeye, Damon Webb. The two went at each other all night having the crowd ooh-ing and aww-ing. It is now just a waiting game before the Canton McKinley Bulldog picks what school he will be attending. He currently holds offers from Arkansas, Cincinnati, Kentucky, and Tennessee, to go along with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes sit at 100% for EGW according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions. Urban Meyer seems to be in the ear of Glover-Williams about being the face of the '15 class.

"They were just telling me how they want me to be the face of the program for my class of 2015.

Switching things up, let's take a look at what is going on around the world of Ohio State basketball. As the summer season is coming to an end, D'Angelo Russell might be having one of the best amongst any 2014 talents. Russell, who plays for the E1T1, helped his team reach the Finals of the 2013 U17 AAU Super Showcase. On Saturday, Russell tallied nineteen points and ten rebounds in the semifinal match-up with Team Final, that after Russell dropped thirty points in the quarterfinals to reach the Final Four. After two great wins, E1T1's title hopes came to a crashing end on Sunday when Howard Pulley beat them, 77-72. Russell did his part for the Florida-based AAU team scoring fifteen points. Russell averaged right around fifteen points per contest for the tourney.

I was able to catch up with Zach Fleer who was in Orlando, Florida covering the event, and this is what he had to say about Russell's game.

"D'Angelo has really picked up his production since committing. He was one of the the top scores this week, showcasing unlimited range, but also being relentless on the drive. Devastating crossover dribble, played pretty good defense as well."

Ohio State was also represented on All-Ohio Red with Jae'Sean Tate. Tate, who is a Central Ohio product in addition to being an OSU commit, had another impressive showing in the Super Showcase, where he might have had the best play of the weekend on a tip dunk that brought down the house. One of Tate's better games of the week came against Atlanta Express (in a win no less) when he finished with twenty points and nine rebounds. Fleer had this to say about Tate and what we should expect from him this year:

"Jae'Sean was Jae'Sean in Orlando, with a bit of an extended range. Tate fell in love with the three from the right wing and was effective from the area. But as we all know, Tate is a bulldog, and got most of his points in the paint and off of offensive rebounds. His highlight came when Tate followed up a Javon Bess missed jump-shot for a monster tip dunk over multiple Westchester defenders. Jae'Sean appears to have added more muscle, and seemed a little stronger this week than earlier in the summer circuit. It is not unreasonable to predict season averages of thirty points and fifteen rebounds per game for Tate this season."

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