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It goes without saying that the Buckeyes are looking to add some talent from Florida in the 2015 class. They've made countless offers in the Sunshine State in the last month or so and hope to add a bunch of the state's top talent to their class.
Frostproof (FL) wide receiver Kaleel Gaines was one player to receive an offer from the Scarlet and Gray when the coaching staff extended him a scholarship offer a couple of months back.
The 6'1, 175-pound wideout also holds scholarship offers from the likes of Auburn, Florida International, Louisville, Massachusetts, Miami, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Purdue, Tennessee, Central Florida, and Wisconsin. A couple of schools have been by to see him since the start of the contact period, including Ohio State.
"Ohio State came by to see me a few days ago," Gaines said. "Then I think Notre Dame is going to stop by sometime this week."
While the visit with Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton was pretty brief, Gaines liked having the opportunity to have a quick chat with him.
"It was good," Gaines said of the visit. "We just talked about school, how I was doing, then a little bit about recruiting. I like their coaching staff."
Gaines hasn't really dove into the recruiting process just yet, but Ohio State is a school he's very interested in early in his process.
"I just like the school as a whole. I can really see myself fitting into their offense," Gaines said of his opinion of Ohio State.
He has a couple of schools that he's really looking forward to checking out in the coming months. One of the places he'd like to make the trip to is Columbus to check out the Ohio State campus.
"I probably want to see Ohio State, USC, Auburn, Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Louisville," he continued. "I'm going to try and make some of these visits in the summer."
When he goes out on his official visits, there are a couple of things he's looking forward to checking out on all of the college campuses.
"First, I want to check out the academic side of the school," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "Then also the stadium, talk to the coaches, and see the facilities."
He would like to make his college decision either over the summer or sometime after his senior season. When he sits down to make the decision, there are a couple of main factors that will go into it.
"Probably just things like academics, the atmosphere around the school, my relationships with the coaches, and how they plan on using me," he said of the factors that will go into his decision.
Gaines has conversations with many different coaching staffs, but there are two that he's the closest to at this point in the recruiting process.
"Ohio State and Auburn, too," Gaines said. "I talk to coaches from those two teams quite a bit."
It's tough to tell which way Gaines is leaning right now, but if I had to guess, my gut says Auburn. Another thing of note is his younger brother, Xavier, is one of, if not the top quarterback in the 2016 class. He's leaning towards Florida State, but has a high amount of interest in the Buckeyes. I'm sure the brothers would like to play together at the next level, but that won't be the deciding factor. Kaleel has yet to receive an offer from the Seminoles. If the Bucks get Gaines on campus, they'll definitely be in the thick of things.
If you haven't seen Gaines in action, you can check out his highlights here.
