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With the Nike Football Training Camp in Columbus on Sunday, quite a few of the nations top prospects were in Central Ohio over the last few days. Urban Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff took full advantage of this by hosting many of the recruits for unofficial visits on Friday and Saturday.
Class of 2015 standouts Darius Fullwood, Alex Ofodile, Hunter Dale, Nyheim Hines, Jashon Cornell, Matthew Burrell, Tim Settle and underclassmen such as 2016 linebacker Brendan Ferns, the brother of Michigan linebacker Michael Ferns, quarterback Messiah DeWeaver, and 2017 defensive end Corey Malone-Hatcher are just a few of the names off the rather long list of weekend visitors that invaded the Ohio State's campus.
Not all the recruits that visited OSU were in town trying to earn a spot to the Opening. One of the prospects that made it to Columbus just to check out the Ohio State campus was three-star offensive line recruit Venzell Boulware.
"The trip to Columbus went absolutely great. It was the best visit I've been on," The 6'4 270 pound Boulware stated. "I saw the facilities, the new indoor field, the stadium, and the campus. I also went out to eat at the Eddie George restaurant," the Fairborn, Georgia native added as some of things that stood out to him during his trip to Ohio State.
Not only did Venzell have the opportunity to see what the OSU program had to offer up close and personal, but he also found time to chat with the staff and even some Buckeye players while on campus Friday and Saturday.
"I spoke with all the coaches up there and had a good time talking to all of them," Boulware said. "Coach Meyer and I talked a lot. A couple of the coaches are from Pennsylvania. My parents are from there and I have a lot of family up there. Coach Johnson, the defensive line coach actually knew some of my family, so that was really cool. I spent a lot of time with the coaches. I met Braxton Miller, and I watched the Heat game with Stephen Collier, and talked to Raekwon McMillan. Those two are from Georgia, so I asked them a lot of questions about adjusting to being far from home. It was definitely the best visit I have been on."
Planning on announcing his top five later this month, Boulware didn't want to name any programs currently sticking out, but did say he would like to make it out west to see "his dream school growing up" Southern Cal in the near future.
With scholarship offers from not just OSU and USC, but also teams such as Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Ole Miss, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Tennessee to name a few, Venzell is definitely going to break some coaches hearts when he cuts them from consideration sometime over the next week or two, but after Boulware's solid weekend in Columbus, I doubt Urban Meyer will be one of them.
If you haven't already, take a few moments to watch these highlights of Boulware in action:
OSU targets shine at NFTC
As I mentioned, many OSU targets were in Columbus for the Nike Football Training Camp and they didn't disappoint. Even though most of them were outstanding during the drills on Sunday, only potential Bucks Jashon Cornell and Justin Hilliard were selected to participate in next month's "The Opening", held in Oregon at the Nike Headquarters.
Congrats to @TheOpening2014 invite, DL Jashon Cornell (@jay_rock16). #GOTOPEN https://t.co/qjXsO6dQvn
— The Opening (@TheOpening2014) June 1, 2014
SB Nation recruiting guru Bud Elliott and our Miles Joseph were on hand yesterday and caught up with many of the top recruits at the camp, including Cornell, Damien Harris, Darrell Taylor, Alex Ofodile, Mike Weber, CJ Conrad, and Nyheim Hines. You can get the low down on all those recruits, and many more at SB Nation Recruiting and in Miles' NFTC recap.
McMillon names top 10
On Sunday morning, Joshua McMillon, one of the top overall linebackers in the entire class of 2015 released his top ten, with the Buckeyes making the cut:
Alabama Auburn Florida State Memphis Michigan Mississippi State Ole Miss Ohio State USC Vanderbilt No Exact Order List Could Change
— Joshua McMillon (@Joshua_McMillon) June 1, 2014
The seventh overall prospect in Tennessee, and 15th overall outside linebacker in his class, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, McMillon was recently blown away during a visit to Ohio State in early April, which probably played a huge role in the Buckeyes making his short list yesterday.
With most of the biggest teams down south trying to keep the 6'3 245 pounder closer to home and Ohio State currently sitting pretty with some of the top linebackers on their big board, I for one would be shocked to see McMillon rocking the Scarlet and Gray, but it is nice to see the Buckeyes held in such high regard by a very talented prospect.
Quick Hits:
- OSU quarterback commits Joe Burrow and Danny Clark (2017) will participate in the Elite 11 Columbus Regional today.
- Over the last few days, our Zach Fleer has been at the AAU State Tournament in Cincinnati. Be on the look out for a full report on some of the top talent that caught his eye over the weekend.
- Class of 2015 offensive lineman Noah Listermann committed to Michigan State on Sunday while on a visit to East Lansing. The Winton Woods standout held offers from programs such as Cincinnati, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia Tech and reportedly Ohio State, before giving the Spartans his pledge.