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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 4/28 - Jake Hausmann talks offer, Matta and staff hit the road

On Friday, the Buckeyes offered five prospects, including 2016 tight end Jake Hausmann of Cincinnati Moeller. See what the four-star prospect had to say about his offer, plus which prospects Thad Matta and staff watched and much more weekend recruiting news.

By Charles Doss
OSU target Brandon Wimbush was invited to The Opening after a solid outing at both the Elite 11 and NFTC.
OSU target Brandon Wimbush was invited to The Opening after a solid outing at both the Elite 11 and NFTC.
Student Sports

Members of the Ohio State football coaching staff hit the road on Friday visiting with many of the nation's top recruits and even handing out a few scholarship offers along the way. Buford, Georgia 2015 standouts Austin Smith, Joshua Thomas, Quay Picou and Xavier Gantt of the class of 2016 all received offers from OSU.

Smith, a 6'3 235-pound outside linebacker, adds the offer from the Buckeyes to a list the consists of Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee and many others. Like Smith, the 6'0 200-pound Thomas, a running back who could also suit up on defense at the next level, currently has quite a few offers under his belt including Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia Tech.

Gantt, only a sophomore, is relatively new to the recruiting scene after joining Thomas in the Buford High backfield and rushing for around 500 yards and scoring multiple touchdowns last season for the Georgia AAA state champs.

With so many down south programs courting Smith, Thomas and Gantt, it is hard to tell what the future might hold, but when it comes to their 6'3 260-pound teammate Quay Picou, the story is a little different.

"It's a dream come true to receive an offer from a top notch program such as the Ohio State University. When I think of OSU, I think of tradition. I'm an Ohio native, so this is huge for me."  The three-star prospect told Land-Grant Holy Land over the weekend.

Picou, who grew up in Cincinnati and attended Moeller as a freshman, will be back in Ohio in July visiting family and hopes to have time to sneak down to Columbus to check out the OSU campus and get to know the staff better.

Even though the Buckeyes just offered him, Quay has the Buckeyes at the top of his current short list, followed by Miami, Cincinnati and Texas A&M.

To see what else Picou had to say about his recruitment, check out the full report, here.

On Friday, OSU also offered class of 2016 tight end Jake Hausmann of Quay's old stomping grounds Cincinnati Moeller. Hausmann, a four-star prospect, caught 22 passes for over 200 yards and three scores for the State Champion Crusaders last season as a sophomore.

"My coach told me on Friday that OSU had offered. I am mostly in contact with Coach Coombs, because he recruits in the area." Hausmann told Land-Grant Holy Land. "The offer means a ton. I grew up a Buckeye fan because my parents both went there, so I grew up watching them every Saturday. It's always been a life long dream to play for them. OSU is definitely up there on my list, but I'm open to everyone and I'm going to take the process slowly."

Cincinnati, Louisville, Illinois and Indiana are just a few of the other offers, Jake currently holds, but in the end I truly believe keeping him out of the scarlet and gray will be easier said than done.

Check out these highlights of Hausmann in action:

Stevens and Taylor visit:

After a MVP performance at the Rivals camp held at Dublin Coffman on Saturday, class of 2015 quarterback Tommy Stevens of Indianapolis stayed in Central Ohio another day to visit OSU on Sunday.

An intriguing prospect, Stevens has the ability to change the game with both his arm and feet. The Buckeyes have been showing increased interest, but wanted to see a more of him in person before dishing out an offer.

We should know more over the next few days how Tommy's visit went.

One thing we know of Levonta Taylor's visit to Columbus for certain is the Buckeyes offered the 2016 standout. During his visit, Taylor took to his Twitter page to share the news with the world:

Taylor had himself quite the weekend. After participating in the Nike Football Training Camp in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, where he was named MVP of the defensive backs, the 5'10 cornerback from Virginia Beach checked out both Maryland and Penn State before heading to Columbus.

The Buckeyes aren't his first offer; Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami are just a few of the teams who beat Ohio State to the punch.

OSU targets Oregon bound:

The Nike Football Training Camps were back at over the weekend in Washington, D.C. and in New Jersey. The following Ohio State targets stood out among the competition and were invited to participate in The Opening later this summer at the Nike headquarters in Oregon:

D.C.

2015 OL- Matthew Burrell

2015 RB- Bryce Love

New Jersey

2015 QB- Brandon Wimbush

2015 TE- Chris Clark

For more on how the OSU targets and many more prospects did over the weekend, check out SB Nation Recruiting for all kind of updates.

Matta and staff hit the road:

During the first live period of the AAU season, Thad Matta and the Ohio State coaching staff took full advantage of it by checking out many of their top targets on their big board up close and personal.

Matta and Greg Paulus were spotted in Sacramento scouting many recruits of the EYBL, including OSU commit AJ Harris, VJ King of King James and All-Ohio Red teammates Esa Ahmad and Jalen Coleman. Some of the other prospects they kept a close eye on over the last few days were Isaiah Briscoe, Cheick Diallo, Thomas Bryant and Jesse Govan to name a few of the many.

Jeff Boals had a busy weekend. The Buckeye assistant started off by heading to Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh Jam Fest. Some of the recruits Boals had an eye on were Georgia big man Doral Moore and Central Ohio standouts Seth Towns, Matthew Moyer and their VCC Ohio Warrior teammates.

After leaving Pittsburgh, Jeff Boals made an appearance at the King James Shooting Stars classic in Akron.  Our Zach Fleer was also on hand, and breaks down many of the prospects Boals were there to scout here.

Quick Hits:

  • 2014 Ohio State signees Brady Taylor and Parris Campbell participated in the Ohio North vs South All-Star game in Dayton on Saturday. Taylor helped block his South squad to a 28-27 overtime victory in the Division IV-VIII game. Campbell showed off his speed by snatching a pass and taking it 62 yards for a score to pace his North team to a win in the DI-III matchup.
  • For more info on OSU recruiting, check out our new series, "In a Nutshell"

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