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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 6/17 - Latest on Dwayne Haskins, Torrance Gibson

The Buckeyes had a fairly busy day in the recruiting world as they hosted a top quarterback from the '16 class but might have fallen off for another QB in the class of '15.

By Ian Cuevas
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

While you might have been celebrating (along with the rest of the country), Ohio State's recruiting staff remained hard at work, as the Buckeyes hosted one of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2016 on Monday. '16 QB Dwayne Haskins has been a high-priority target for coach Meyer and with Haskins taking a visit to Columbus, that has only solidified their position. The 6'2, 185-pound quarterback from the state of Maryland holds offers from some of the top schools in the country, including Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, SMU, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, among others.

Haskins' recruitment has caught fire, as more programs continue sending offers to the sixth ranked quarterback in the country and seventh best prospect overall out of Maryland. The four-star is currently predicted to land at Ohio State according to the 247 Crystal Ball experts, with all 16 predictions going for the Buckeyes. After his visit, Haskins was reportedly impressed with what the campus had to offer, and even shouted out current Ohio State commit '16 RB George Hill on his decision to become a Buckeye:

If you've been following recruiting for the past few months, you'll know that Ohio State has been going hard after '15 QB Torrance Gibson, but it appears that might have all changed. There have been rumors spinning for quite a while now that coach Meyer and his staff have decided to slow down or even stop recruiting the five-star talent from Florida. If it's true, then the 6'4, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback is favored to land in Auburn (50%) or Tennessee (25%), both of which have been neck and neck with Ohio State in recent months in the Crystal Ball.

One of the most telling signs is the Crystal Ball change for the Buckeyes. At one point, Ohio State led all schools with a sizable lead for Gibson's services, but ultimately sit at 12 percent now. Gibson remains one of the top recruits in the country, but it appears the drama was too much to handle for the Buckeyes. Gibson threw for almost 2,000 yards and ran for over 1,000 last season for his high school.

The Buckeyes sent out an offer on Monday to '16 OL Thiyo Lukusa from Traverse City, Michigan. The 6'5, 300-pound offensive tackle is ranked as the 18th best offensive tackle in the country and sixth best prospect out of Michigan for the class of 2016. Ohio State is Lukusa's fifth offer, including Akron, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.

For now, the four-star lineman is projected to be staying in-state and heading to Ann Arbor to play his college football with Michigan getting all 19 of the votes on the Crystal Ball. With this latest offer, you may see Lukusa start receiving more interest outside of the Big Ten, and take away some of the Wolverines' momentum with him.

Finally, in some basketball news, it appears Thad Matta has targeted his next recruit in '16 PF Nick Rakocevic. The 6'9, 190-pound power forward hails from the state of Illinois, and it appears that the Illini have the early advantage when it comes to Rakocevic's recruitment. While he holds offers from schools such as Creighton, Illinois, Indiana, Miami, Northern Illinois, and Wisconsin, Rakocevic is still hearing from top programs such Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Marquette, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Purdue.

The Crystal Ball gives Illinois the edge over Duke for Rakocevic's services, but if Thad Matta is starting to make some calls, it could be possible for the Buckeyes to make a move considering it's fairly early in his recruitment. It's something that is worth keeping an eye on, at any rate.

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