Ohio State football player profiles: Terry McLaurin

Urban Meyer has been looking to add speed to the Ohio State offense since taking over the program a couple of years ago. He added plenty of speed to the team in the 2014 recruiting process, with one of the speedsters being Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral wide receiver/running back Terry McLaurin.

Take a trip down memory lane and find out what kind of early impact he could have for the Buckeyes, as we bring you "Bucks to the Future", the Terry McLaurin story.

Vitals

Height: 6'0

Weight: 190 pounds

247Sports Composite: Number 37 wide receiver, third ranked player in the state of Indiana, and 241st overall prospect in the 2014 class.

High School: Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, Indiana

Origin Story

One of the best stories of the Dream 14 recruiting class is definitely Terry McLaurin's road to Ohio State. It didn't come easy, but he eventually earned an offer from the Buckeyes and committed shortly after receiving the scholarship offer from the Scarlet and Gray.

It took some time for his recruitment to pick up, but after he helped lead his team to a state championship in 2012, he started to get some interest from colleges. His first big visit was to Toledo in late February, then the very next day he received an offer from in-state Purdue. He picked up his first scholarship offer from Purdue a few weeks after visiting and Toledo followed suit with an offer soon after.

Still, he wasn't receiving too much interest from big time schools. Next on the visit trail for him would be a trip to Bowling Green, followed by another trip to check out Purdue. He also added an offer from Western Kentucky. In addition to the two aforementioned visits, McLaurin also made trips to Arkansas State and Ball State, where he received a scholarship offer while visiting.

McLaurin then got out and started to check out some bigger schools. At the beginning of April, he took visits to Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. During this period, he received offers from Cincinnati and Missouri, which might have been his biggest offer at this point in time. Weeks later, he scored an offer from Western Michigan and took yet another visit to Purdue, who was probably the favorite to land his commitment at this point in his recruitment.

Near the end of April he received an in-school visit from Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs who wanted him to come out for a summer camp, where he would have the chance at earning a scholarship offer from OSU. This was really the first time we had heard about the Buckeyes having a significant level of interest in the speedy McLaurin.

Before the summer got started, he picked up two more Big Ten offers from the likes of Purdue and Iowa. He was then ready to go out on some summer visits and camp at Ohio State, where he hoped to earn a scholarship offer.

McLaurin kicked off his summer with trips to Cincinnati, Purdue, and Missouri, all of which went pretty well. However, it was the next visit he had on tap that he was looking forward to.

On June 9th he made his first visit to Columbus where he hoped to earn a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes at their one-day camp. He put on a very impressive performance in front of the Ohio State coaches, but they weren't quite ready to extend him a scholarship offer. They wanted to see him one more time before being 100% sure on offer him a scholarship.

Before returning to Ohio State on June 21st, McLaurin made the short trip to check out he in state Indiana Hoosiers. After that it was time to make a return visit to Columbus.

I'll get into the second camp/offer in a minute, but first I want to say that this reminds me a bit of Darron Lee's commitment in the 2013 class. Lee was a guy who really wanted to be a Buckeye and was willing to camp twice to earn an offer from his dream school, even though he could've gone to another very good college. Same thing with McLaurin. Didn't have to camp twice, but was willing to because he badly wanted an offer from the Buckeyes.

After he returned to Ohio State for their second one-day camp, he impressed the coaches with another very good showing. Following the camp he received an offer from the Buckeyes and once that happened almost everyone involved with recruiting knew he was going to be in the class. The only question was when it was going to happening.

We didn't have to wait very long for McLaurin to make his commitment as just two days after earning the offer he made things official and committed to the Buckeyes, effectively ending his recruitment.

Just a couple of weeks after committing, McLaurin attended Nike's "The Opening", where he posted one of the top 40-yard dash times at 4.41 seconds. Many took notice of his performance at the camp as he was finally upgraded to four-star status on a couple of recruiting websites.

All was quiet for McLaurin after The Opening as he was focused on getting ready for his senior season with the goal of defending his high school's state championship.

He took an unofficial visit to Ohio State in late October where he got to watch his future school pound Penn State under the lights.

On November 29, 2013, McLaurin helped Indianapolis Cathedral win another state championship. McLaurin played a big role in the game scoring three touchdowns in the huge win.

His official visit took place in the middle of December, where he got to spend time with fellow members of the Dream 14 and his future coaches at his future school.

McLaurin made things official on February 5, 2014, signing and faxing his National Letter of Intent to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. After signing, he shared his favorite memory of the recruiting process.

"Committing (was) probably (my favorite part of the process) because I knew I wanted to be done and wasn't going to change my mind," McLaurin said. "Seeing the fan feedback was real nice, too."

Just a few weeks after National Signing Day, I ran into McLaurin at the Best of the Midwest Combine, where he was helping coach up the prospect in attendance. After the combine wrapped up, I caught up with McLaurin to talk about his future at Ohio State, the relationships he had with the coaching staff, and more:

Finally, McLaurin attended the spring game a couple of weeks ago and got to spend time with many of his future teammates. Graduating and moving in on campus in Columbus will be next.

2014 prospectus

I don't know how much he'll contribute to the team this year because I think he needs to develop more as a wide receiver and build his frame in the weight room. I definitely think redshirting this year is the best option for him.

He can definitely play a big role in the offense a year or so down the road. He has excellent speed and can even play in the backfield a little as he played a lot of running back when he was in high school. I would also like to see him improve his route running a little bit over the course of his first season in Columbus (not a huge deal, something a lot of guys need to improve going into college).

All in all, he has the potential to be a very good player in Columbus. He has the ability to be a very explosive/dynamic college football player. It should be fun to monitor his progress over the course of his career with the Buckeyes.

Land-Grant Holy Land football analyst Christopher Jason had the following to say about McLaurin's future in Columbus.

McLaurin possesses arguably the fastest straight-line speed in the Buckeye recruiting class. He can take the top off the defense and also has a knack for finding soft spots in zone coverage. McLaurin has great hands (plucks the ball) but he needs to fill out his frame and would benefit from a redshirt this season.

Obligatory GIF, Highlights

Here are McLaurin's highlights from his senior season courtesy of Hudl. Below are his most recent YouTube highlights from his junior season.

Did you know...

- McLaurin was awarded the state of Indiana's Mr. Football last year following a strong senior season.

- He led Indianapolis Cathedral to back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013.