5-star Ohio State commit visits Alabama

Recruiting is always changing, and things aren’t over until a prospect signs a national letter of intent with a school.

Verbally committed to Ohio State since late April, news broke over the weekend that newly ranked five-star prospect Brenton Cox would take a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala. and check out what Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have to offer n and off the football field.

When a recruit is pledged to attend a program and makes plans to visit another school, of course fans are going to freak out a bit. Before Buckeye Nation could make too much an uproar, Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com caught up with the Georgia native to get his view on the situation.

"I mean, it doesn't matter because I'm done with recruiting, I'm straight. I was just going just to go. ... I'm not looking to decommit or go to Alabama. I'm going to Ohio State," Cox stated to Wasserman.

Cox isn’t the first OSU commit to ever take a visit. While it’s becoming a very common thing in new age recruiting, and some players end up having a change of heart, all signs look to currently point towards Brenton staying with the Buckeyes, who he spurned his home-state and one time favorite Georgia Bulldogs for.

Although things could always switch up, remember these are just kids with a once in a lifetime opportunity. When you were a teenager, wouldn’t you want to mingle with some of the best in the business? I for one know I would’ve, and I think you would’ve too.

Gill shows off his speed

After an injury, some athletes lose a step. From the looks of things, that’s not the case for Ohio State class of 2018 verbal commit Jaelen Gill of Westerville South.

Gill, a four-star running back, who could slide perfectly into the H-Back role for the Buckeyes, showed that he’s put his broken leg he sustained last season in the rearview mirror at the Under Armour illSpeed Final in Baltimore, Md. on Sunday afternoon.

A camp that puts some of the fastest, most athletic players in the country up against each other in a matter of different drills, Gill, who has also been invited to participate in Nike’s The Opening and the Rivals 5-star Challenge this summer, proved he’s back to full-health once again by winning the whole event.

Want to see why Gill took home the hardware yesterday? ESPN recruiting reporter Gerry Hamilton caught the following footage of the future Buckeyes quick feet in action:

Quick Hits

• Ohio State picked up their 12th verbal commitment of the 2018 cycle on Friday when four-star linebacker Teradja Mitchell picked the Buckeyes over the Seminoles of Florida State. To see what Mitchell will add to the Ohio State defense, our Christopher Jason has your back.
• Some of their classmates might’ve been on campus in the spring, but the rest of the Buckeyes class of 2017 have now joined them in Columbus. Trevon Grimes, Jaylen Harris, and many other incoming freshman have arrived at OSU and are officially Buckeye student athletes.
• After being thought as a near lock to join the Buckeyes by some at one time during the process, 2018 Dayton Dunbar Tavion Thomas named his current leaders over the weekend with Ohio State being left off the list. Alabama, Cincinnati, Louisville, Oklahoma, USC, West Virginia and Wisconsin are the programs fighting to land the three-star running back, who could also play linebacker on the next level.