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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 9/1 - Matthew Burrell to visit, Carlton Bragg to name top 5

Get caught up with all the Ohio State recruiting news from over the weekend.

Matthew Burrell
Matthew Burrell
Student Sports

It was a pretty eventful weekend in the world of Ohio State recruiting. A majority of the OSU verbal commits were back on the field on Friday and Saturday.

Running back Eric Glover-Williams, quarterback Joe Burrow, defensive backs Denzel Ward, Carlton Davis, and defensive end Dre'Mont Jones were just a few of the OSU recruits that stood out.

Every Sunday, Land-Grant Holy Land will give you the chance to vote for the Elite '15 MVP. This week, the aforementioned prospects are our nominees. If you haven't already, feel free to cast your vote here.

Not all the future Buckeyes performances on the field went the way they were hoping. Two way lineman, Joshua Alabi of Cass Tech, scared many fans in the stands when he was carted off to the sidelines with an unknown injury, that was later diagnosed as cramps and dehydration.

Alabi, who committed to OSU while at Friday Night Lights in July, went to his Twitter account to share with everyone how he's doing, and from the sound of things, he will be just fine to return to the field next Friday against Pershing:

Joshua wasn't the only commit to walk away from the field injured. Offensive lineman Grant Schmidt of Roosevelt High in Sioux Falls, SD, banged up his ankle, and had many worried that he might have broke it.

Those thoughts were soon diminished after a Saturday morning x-ray proved, that the 6'6 275 pounder didn't break any bones.

Per Bill Kurelic of 247Sports, Schmidt will see a foot and ankle specialist on Tuesday. If things go well, he might be able to play this week, but there is also a chance he is held out as a precaution.

The evaluation period is here

At midnight ,most of you were fast asleep, or enjoying the fact that you didn't have to head to work this morning. While you were slacking, the Ohio State coaching staff were grinding, as the evaluation period finally began.

College football coaches are now allowed to visit high school and watch recruits in games or practices. Even though they can't talks with the players during those evaluations, the coaches are now allowed to communicate via social media with class of 2015, and more importantly, now 2016 recruits as well.

Mark Pantoni sent those talented junior prospects a little warning yesterday afternoon via Twitter:

Burrell visiting this week

Many of the top prospects in the country will be on the OSU campus for the Virginia Tech game on Saturday. While you already know about five-star defensive end Josh Sweat visiting, another recruit from Virginia tweeted that he will apparently be on hand as well.

Four-star tackle Matthew Burrell, one of the top prospects left on the Bucks' big board, will once again make a trip to Columbus. OSU is definitely one of the teams towards the top for the 6'5, 300 pound Burrell, alongside programs such as Florida State, Alabama, and Virginia Tech, where he visited over this past weekend.

Bragg to name top 5

Later today Cleveland Villa Angela St. Joe's standout forward Carlton Bragg will release his top five. Ohio State, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, Illinois, and many other of the top college basketball programs in the country are after the 6'8 five-star power forward.

Early in his recruitment, Ohio State was thought as his leader, but the Wildcats, Jayhawks, and Fighting Illini have definitely caught up with Thad Matta and company.

According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Bragg is the top player in Ohio, fifth best power forward, and 14th overall prospect in the 2015 class.

Quick hits:

  • On Friday, OSU offered four-star class of 2016 defensive end Justin Madubuike. The Bucks joins the likes of Baylor, Texas, and Oklahoma as just a few of the teams after the big and physical junior out of McKinney, TX.
  • 2015 wideout KJ Hill committed to his home state Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday. Hill, had OSU, Alabama, Florida, and Notre Dame in his top five.