Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 3/3 - Marcus Lewis, Christian Kirk visit

Over the weekend, the Buckeyes played host to five-star wide receiver Christian Kirk and four-star cornerback Marcus Lewis. A former Virginia Tech commit, Lewis is a physical and tough defensive back who isn't afraid of contact. Displaying these attributes are a just a few reasons why some college coaches are believing the 6'1 190-pound Washington, D.C. native could make the switch to safety at the next level.

Lewis might have decomitted from Virginia Tech, but the Hokies are still very much still in the mix with Ohio State and programs such as Penn State and Kentucky.

Land-Grant Holy Land will have more on Lewis' visit this week.

Kirk, the 38th overall class of 2015 recruit in the country (according to the 247Composite) made his way north from warm Scottsdale, Arizona to snowy and icy Columbus, Ohio to get an up close and personal look at the Ohio State program.

Holding offers from just about every major college football program, Christian has already visited a number of schools such as UCLA, USC, and Texas A&M, but had nothing but great things to say about his trip to Columbus, telling Land-Grant Holy Land the following:

"The visit went awesome. I learned a lot of things over the two days and I left feeling comfortable about the place. Over the trip I formed a super strong relationship with Coach Smith that I know will be a relationship no matter if I go there or not in the future. Things that stood out were meeting Archie Griffin and learning about the Buckeye family and all the opportunities the alumni can provide for you after football. I met with Coach Meyer for about 30 minutes. He's my kind of coach. Super passionate about the game and he's intense. All he could talk about was bringing out the best in his players and I want to be around a guy like that. He's also a family man, so I know he will take of me too. At the end of the day when it comes to what I'm looking for in a program for my commitment, it has to be the place I'm comfortable with, playing time will have a role and a system I can strive in and hopefully send me to the next level."

You can see what else Christian Kirk had to say about his visit here.

New Jersey native Steven Gonzalez visited his home state program of Rutgers on Saturday with a few of his Union City High School teammates and walked away impressed enough to sky rocket the Scarlet Knights into the third spot of his top five list, alongside current leader Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and South Carolina.

Even though he doesn't have a date set as of right now, the four-star offensive lineman tells Land-Grant Holy Land that he is trying to make his way to Columbus this spring. "I'm looking to see the campus and stadium. I'm also looking to see if I fit in well over there." Gonzalez said of Ohio State.

One of the top offensive linemen on their board, Urban Meyer and the rest of the OSU coaching staff have definitely gone out of their way to show Steven he is a wanted man. Between phone calls and other forms of communicating, Meyer and assistant Ed Warinner have both made multiple trips up east to visit the school of the 6'4 300-pound standout during the recruiting process, which is something he has really noticed.

"OSU is the team to beat because of how much of a priority I am to them and the relationship I have with their coaches," Steven said. "I just like everything about them. I feel like I'm a top priority over there, like if they really want me."

If you haven't seen Steven Gonzalez in action yet, check out these highlights below:

Future Buckeye wing Jae'Sean Tate is out for Pickerington Central after recently having season ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and D'Angelo Russell of Montverde Academy (FL) and his Eagle teammates are off until they try to repeat as Champions of the Dick's Sporting Goods National High School Invitational at Madison Square Garden in New York City next month.

Tate and Russell might not of been on the court this weekend, but a few of the other class of 2014 signees and current 2015 Ohio State commits were back in action trying to reach one step closer to bringing a state title to their programs.

Coming into Friday's game, Keita Bates-Diop needed only one point to become Normal, Illinois's University High School's all-time leading scorer. Keita got more than he needed, scoring 21 and grabbing down 10 rebounds to lead the Pioneers to their 42nd straight Corn Belt Conference win and 22nd victory of the season over Pontiac, 61-42, to put his name in the U-High record books.

Bates-Diop and the Pioneers are back at it on Wednesday as they take on Decatur MacArthur to start their state championship dreams in the Class 3A Lincoln Regional.

Congrats to #FutureBuckeye @KBD_33 on becoming the all-time leading scorer at his HS tonight. Undefeated in league play all 4 years

— Jeff Boals (@JeffBoals) March 1, 2014

On Saturday, against Cleveland John Adams, power forward Dave Bell might have played one of his top overall statistical games of the season for Garfield Heights. The 6'10 big man pitched in 19 points, 17 rebounds and also blocked seven shots to help lead the Bulldogs to a 73-59 victory and the sectional championship.

Garfield Heights' next game is against Euclid at Solon High School on Thursday. If the Bulldogs prevail, they would take on the winner of Wednesdays Bedford/Shaker Heights matchup on Saturday.

@db_trey5 was special tonight in our first tournament game with19 points 17 rebs 7 blocks.The boy looked like a BIG TIME OHIO STATE RECRUIT

— Sonny Johnson (@sonnyjohnson32) March 2, 2014

2015 commit AJ Harris and Dayton Dunbar had absolutely no problem with Bishop Fenwick on Saturday in the Division II District Semifinal game, defeating the Falcons by a lopsided final score of 86-50. Harris finished with 12 points, which included a buzzer-beating three point bucket to end the third quarter and dealt out nine assists in the win.

Here is footage of AJ's buzzer beater, brought to you by our friends over at Scarberry Media:

The Wolverines will face a feisty Carroll squad who are coming off an upset victory over Shawnee this Friday at Dayton University.

Fellow class of 2015 commit Mickey Mitchell and Plano West (TX) didn't play this weekend, but the 6'8 junior did see his first action in months late last week after sitting out with a back injury. In the fourth quarter of a 75-73 Regional Quarterfinal loss to Berkner, Mitchell got in and showed that just because he hasn't played in awhile doesn't mean he'd forgotten how to posterize poor kids:

QUICK HITS:

• The Buckeyes offered 2015 fullback Chandler Cox a scholarship on Friday. Cox, a 6'0 220-pound three-star prospect from Apopka, Florida, currently holds offers from programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Miami, to name a few off his list.
• Eric Glover-Williams of Canton McKinley, a class of 2015 commit, tells our Miles Joseph that he will visit OSU on Thursday.
• Per Bill Kurelic of 247Sports, 2016 offensive lineman Tyler Gerald of Sciotoville Community High School will make it up to Ohio State later this month for their March 29th spring practice. The 6'5 300-pound sophomore, who had Buckeye assistant Tom Herman stop by his school in January, visited Cincinnati on Saturday.