Ohio State made an offer to a 3-star defensive tackle from Texas

As the Ohio State Buckeyes are gearing up for their showdown in the Cotton Bowl with the USC Trojans, the Scarlet and Gray are continuing on the recruiting trail. Ahead of Friday night’s game at AT&T Stadium, the Bucks are still looking at building great recruiting classes for the future. (And one of those pieces to the future success may once again come from Wichita Falls.)

Another from Wichita Falls

Current OSU quarterback J.T. Barrett is from Wichita Falls, Texas. According to the Wichita Falls website, the city has over 104,000 for its population and is considered the “Gateway to Texas.”

With that being said, another native of that Texas city has a chance to be a Buckeye. 2019 three-star defensive tackle Lloyd Murray Jr. (Wichita Falls / Hirschi) made the offer known on Tuesday afternoon.

Right now, the 247sports composite has Murray listed as the 858th best prospect, 53rd ranked DT, and 108th best prospect out of Texas for 2019. Already, a handful of elite programs have made him offers. Florida State, Alabama and Auburn are just a few of the 23 schools that have thrown their hat into the ring for the Texan. Before Ohio State came calling, Georgia Tech was the last program to offer a spot—doing so back on Dec. 18, according to Murray’s 247sports profile page. And a couple weeks before the Yellow Jackets made a move, the Michigan Wolverines made an offer for Murray, too.

Even though Murray is just a sophomore, he has a couple years worth of stats already in the books. According to 247sports, in 2016, he had 19 tackles, with four of them counting as tackles for losses. This past season, he doubled his tackle total and recorded 40 of them. He also doubled his TFLs to eight, and earned two sacks.

On Hudl, Murray Jr. has a highlight reel from his sophomore season. That video clip is embedded below.

The focus shifts

As Ohio State made an offer on Tuesday, that was preceded by good news on Christmas evening. Four-star running back Miles Friday, a member of the 2020 class, posted on Twitter of the 11 schools that he’s focusing on as he goes into his junior year.

On that list were the Buckeyes.

Likewise, Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl opponent made the list for Friday, as did the Clemson Tigers—a team that beat the Bucks last season.

Not every school on Friday’s list has made him an offer, though. According to 247sports, the RB holds 19 offers, which includes the likes of Alabama. However, Clemson, Nebraska and USC are some schools that didn’t seem to register an offer on his profile page.

That’s normal, as Friday is a 2020 prospect and doesn’t have a grade yet. But if ‘Bama and OSU have entered the race this early, then they must see something in the IMG Academy product.

Quarterback coach Ryan Day and running back coach Tony Alford have taken the lead on his recruitment, according to 247sports.