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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 7/7 - Daniel Giddens commits, Xavier Gaines names top 10

The Buckeyes landed one of the top big men in the country. Find out who, and much more Ohio State recruiting news from over the weekend.

By Charles Doss
Xavier Gaines
Xavier Gaines
Student Sports

The Fourth of July weekend definitely kicked off with a bang for Thad Matta and the basketball Buckeyes. On Friday afternoon, OSU landed one of their top overall targets of the class of 2015, as big man Daniel Giddens decided to call Columbus his future home.

Giddens, a 6'10, 235-pound four-star recruit, picked Ohio State over scholarship offers from Kansas, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, and many others. Last season at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, he averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks a contest.

With commitments from AJ Harris, Mickey Mitchell, and Austin Grandstaff, adding Giddens to the fold gives Matta and the Bucks arguably the top overall recruiting class in the country – and Matta might not be done just yet.

For more on Daniel Giddens and what he brings to the Buckeyes, check out our Sam Vecenie's scouting report.

2016 QB trims list

While preparing plans for the holiday on Thursday evening, you might have missed class of 2016 quarterback Xavier Gaines' top 10 announcement. Cutting his list from well over 20 scholarship offers, Xavier, the younger brother of 2015 WR Kaleel Gaines, tweeted that the following programs are currently sticking out:

Blessed with pretty decent speed and arm strength, the 6'2,  200-pound Florida native is the fourth ranked dual-threat quarterback and 147th overall prospect in the 2016 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Gaines is just one of the very talented juniors the Buckeyes are currently sitting pretty with. Urban Meyer and crew are also major contenders in the recruitment of standout signal callers Malik Henry, Jawon Pass, Jarrett Guarantano, Dwayne Haskins, and Brandon Mcllwain.

To see what Gaines could add to the OSU offense, check out these highlights:

The Opening/Elite 11 have arrived

The top high school football camp in the country is finally here. Just like last year when Damon Webb, Dante Booker, Parris Campbell, Kyle Trout, and others participated in the now annual camp, the Buckeyes have a number of verbal commits in Oregon once again. Tyler Green, Justin Hilliard, and Jashon Cornell will represent the Elite '15 against most of the nation's top talent over the next few days.

Some of the many current and former Ohio State targets on hand at the camp include:

  • RB Damien Harris
  • OL Matthew Burrell
  • OL Drew Richmond
  • OL Andre James
  • DE Josh Sweat
  • WR Christian Kirk
  • WR Van Jefferson
  • DL Neville Gallimore
  • ATH Torrance Gibson
  • QB Deondre Francois
  • RB Jordan Cronkrite
  • DB Shaun Crawford
  • RB Bryce Love
  • DB Tavarus McFadden

Keep checking back as the SB Nation and Land-Grant Holy Land recruiting teams will have much more news from The Opening 2014 throughout the week.

Quick Hits:

  • Want more Ohio State recruiting coverage? Check out "In a Nutshell".
  • Ohio is stacked with 2016 talent. Our Bret Favachio takes a look at some of the top prospects in the state here.

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