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February is right around the corner, which also means the cap is about to be placed on this year;s recruiting class. With National Signing Day for the 2014 class quickly approaching, the Buckeyes staff will soon completely shift their focus to the 2015 class, and they did not let down on Wednesday.
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Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was in Tennessee on Wednesday along with tight ends coach Tim Hinton. Three prospects that were visited yesterday were already on the receiving end of an OSU offer. Hillsboro High School in Nashville was one of the destinations to check on '15 DE Kyle Phillips. The 6'4, 245-pound pass rusher comes in as the 106th ranked player in his class and has already piled up over 15 offers.
'15 WR Van Jefferson of Ravenwood High School also received a visit. Jefferson, who is a 4-star pass catcher, is rated as the sixth best player in the state. The Buckeyes are currently in good shape with the talented receiver. The Buckeyes biggest threats for Jefferson, at the moment, would be Penn State and Tennessee. Finally, new Georgia commit Rico McGraw of Ensworth High received a visit. Though McGraw gave his commitment to the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes are still recruiting the 4-star CB and have plenty of time to gain ground on Georgia.
Tim Hinton was at Columbia Central High School to see '15 TE Jackson Harris. Harris, who has 16 offers at the moment, is currently rated as a 3-star prospect. The 6'5, 245-pounder spoke with Land Grant Holy-Land about his visit from Coach Hinton and what an Ohio State offer would mean.
"We talked for a few minutes and the main thing he said was he's gonna sit down and evaluate his top TEs then should put out an offer. It would be big, and it would compete against some of my other big offers"
Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson was in Avon, Connecticut to pay a visit to '15 TE Chris Clark. The 6'6, 247-pound tight end is only ranked as a 3-star prospect and the 15th best tight end in the class. That, however, will likely change as he is being pursued by many of the top programs in the country. Clark holds offers from Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee among many others. 247Sports' Crystal Ball feature currently has Clark selecting the Buckeyes.
Coach Johnson stopped by #OSU
— Chris Clark (@Clark8Chris) January 29, 2014
The most recent coach to join the staff would be co-defensive coordinator and safety coach Chris Ash. His stop on Wednesday was Washington DC. Ash was at Gonzaga High School to see talented '15 CB Marcus Lewis. Ohio State has already offered the highly-touted corner as well as many other top programs in the country. Ash was also checking on his teammate, '15 OG Richie Petitbon, who also has an Ohio State offer under his belt.
Luke Fickell stayed in the Buckeye state and headed to Cincinnati to do some recruiting. Fickell stopped at St. Xavier High School to visit the top-rated player in Ohio for the 2015 class; linebacker Justin Hilliard. The Buckeyes got started a little late with Hilliard in comparison to many other programs but have begun to turn up the heat a bit more. Hilliard is rated at the 31st ranked player in the nation and the third best outside linebacker.
'15 DE Darian Roseboro announced via Twitter that he would be making his decision in mid-April.
2015 DE, Ohio State target RT @DarianRoseboro Ill be making my college decision the middle of April 🏈
— LGHL Recruiting (@LGHLRecruiting) January 29, 2014
The 4-star has many options to choose from including Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, NC State, Ohio State, Tennessee and more. The program that Roseboro chooses will be picking up a 6'4, 245-pound pass rusher that comes in as the 95th ranked player in the country.
Finally, it was announced last night that '14 SG D'Angelo Russell, who committed to the Buckeyes back in June of last year, would be playing the 2014 McDonald's All-American game in April. Russell is joined by Lady Bucks pledge, Cincinnati, OH native Kelsey Mitchell, who was named to the women's game. The 5-star point guard is one of the best playmakers in the 2014 class and could be an instant difference maker for first year head coach Kevin McGuff.
