Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 9/22 - Alex Stump, Branden Bowen, Malcolm Askew offered

The Buckeyes offered three prospects over the weekend. Class of 2015 wideout Alex Stump and offensive lineman Branden Bowen finally received a scholarship offer, as did 2017 athlete Malcolm Askew.

Looking to add a taller receiver to the roster, Stump, a 6'3, 190 pound standout for in-state powerhouse Lakewood St. Edward, must have impressed the OSU assistant coaches at his game on Saturday evening.

Alex has been verbally committed to Kentucky since the spring, but has flirted with other programs in the past, including visiting Stanford over the summer. With that being the case, the offer from the Bucks could definitely shake things up for the four-star prospect.

So far this season, Stump has over 30 receptions for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns for the 3-1 Eagles.

Bowen, got his offer from Urban Meyer just one day after he dished out a verbal pledge to Utah.

"It feels great, but in terms of my commitment, as of right now, I'm still solidly committed to Utah." Bowen stated to Land-Grant Holy Land.

"I will always be considering Ohio State throughout the rest of my recruiting process. Great program, great coaches, great talent."

The massive 6'7 330 pound three-star prospect visited OSU in the spring, and was supposed to be in Columbus for the Virginia Tech game, but had to cancel his trip. Before his commitment to the Utes, Branden told us he was hoping to make it back to Ohio State for the Illinois game, and that seems to still be the case.

"I'm going to try and make it out there then. I'm still working that out with the coaches."

Askew might only be a sophomore, but the standout from Alabama is starting to put together a solid list of college offers. Ohio State now joins schools such as Georgia, UCLA, Southern Miss, and UAB as a few of the programs to jump in early on the 6'0, 170 pound southern speedster.

OSU coaches hit the road:

The staff didn't just watch Stump during their off week, but also a few other top prospects. Per Bill Kurelic of 247Sports, Urban Meyer checked in on 2016 linebacker Brendan Ferns of Saint Clairsville before making the treck to the Pittsburgh area to watch top 2015 defensive back target Jordan Whitehead, who plans to verbally commit in the coming weeks.

Before taking in Stump and St. Ed's game against Elder on Saturday, Coach Kerry Coombs was in Detroit, MI watching current commit Joshua Alabi and the many OSU targets who suit up for Cass Tech on Friday.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson was back in the Washington, D.C. area to see 2016 quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and another member of the staff went out to Utah to watch was class of 2015 standout linebacker Porter Gustin, who is working on setting up an official visit.

The aforementioned recruits are just a few of the many prospects Ohio State had a close eye on. Next week, a lot of high school talent, including Haskins, will head to Columbus to return the favor and watch the Bucks take on Cincinnati under the lights of the Horseshoe.

The Land-Grant Holy Land recruiting crew will have much more on those visitors throughout the week. Stay tuned.

Quick Hits:

• The top overall prospect in the 2015 class and OSU target Josh Sweat will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury during his ball game on Friday.The five-star defensive end officially visited OSU for their game against Virginia Tech and was supposed to check-out the Hokies this weekend but that trip was canceled due to the injury.
• Current Ohio State commit Eric Glover-Williams received his Under Armour All-American jersey during a ceremony held at Canton McKinley on Friday morning. He joins his soon-to-be teammate Jashon Cornell, who got his jersey last week.
• Ohio State might have had a bye week, but the future Buckeyes didn't. Take a few moments to vote for the Week 4 Elite '15 MVP.