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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 7/31 - Esa Ahmad to visit, James Daniels commits to Iowa

The Buckeyes miss out on an OSU legacy, but big-time hoops target will visit on Saturday and plenty more.

Esa Ahmad to visit on Saturday
Esa Ahmad to visit on Saturday
247Sports

There was plenty of news in the Ohio State recruiting world yesterday. One of the biggest happenings was for the Bucks basketball team, who received good news in the middle of the football teams recruiting momentum.

Per Brian Snow of Scout.com, '15 PF Esa Ahmad will be visiting Ohio State on Saturday. Ahmad is currently the 3rd best player in the state of Ohio, the 12th best player at the power forward position and the 57th overall player in the 2015 recruiting class. The Shaker Heights (OH) standout is widely predicted to end up playing collegiality in Columbus over the Terrapins and the Mountaineers of West Virginia. I think it is safe to put Ahmad on commitment watch for Saturday or after his visit with the Bearcats.

This morning, we found out where '15 OL James Daniels of Warren G Harding (OH) will play his college ball. The 6'2, 282-pounder made his decision just after 11 a.m. ET at his high school, choosing Iowa over the likes of Ohio State and Auburn. Daniels is the 11th overall center in the country, the 25th overall player in Ohio and the 565th player in the class:

The No. 1 overall player in the nation, '15 DE Josh Sweat, announced where he will be taking his five official visits and Buckeye fans will be pleased. Sweat announced that he will officially visit Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Virginia Tech. The five-star prospect from Oscar Smith (VA) previously visited Ohio State on June 25th and the Buckeyes clearly made enough of an impression to get an official out of the country's best player.

Per Mike Dyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, '15 LB and Ohio State commit Justin Hilliard will have his U.S. Army All-American ceremony and jersey presentation on Nov. 12 at St. Xavier (OH). Hilliard is the top rated player in Ohio, the second best OLB in the country and the 29th overall player in the country.

Per Derek Young of Scout.com, Ohio State has narrowed the gap on Michigan for '16 OT Thiyo Lukusa. The 6'5, 300-pounder was in attendance for Ohio State's Friday Night Lights camp on the 25th and clearly came away impressed. Lukusa will be tough to pull away from the in-state Wolverines and the 247Sports Crystal Ball tells the same story with all 19 predictions to Michigan. Lukusa is the 8th overall player in the state, the 20th overall offensive tackle and the 280th overall player for 2016.

One of Texas' best in the 2016 class released his top ten on Wednesday. The Buckeyes were included on the list of '16 CB Jared Mayden of Sachse (TX). The 82nd overall player in the 2016 class also included Baylor, Louisville, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Rice, TCU, Tennessee and Texas A&M on the list. Mayden was also a participant at FNL on the 25th.

Finally, '16 CB Trayvon Mullen tells 247Sports' Bill Kurelic that he will definitely make a return trip to Ohio State. Mullen was one of the very many talented prospects in Columbus for Friday Night Lights. The Coconut Creek (FL) talent is a four-star player with offers from many of the top programs around the nation. Mullen is the 8th overall player in Florida, the 6th at his position and the 50th in the nation.