Ohio State makes cut for top-rated TE

With the country’s most prestigious camp, The Opening, coming to an end yesterday, Ohio State related recruiting news continued to break.

The biggest news broke following the end of the first 7-vs-7 semifinals when one of the country’s top tight ends in the 2018 recruiting class released his top four schools via Twitter.

Jeremy Ruckert (Lindenhurst, NY / Lindenhurst) has received a reported 30 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment and officially narrowed his list down to four schools Monday: Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes have been heavily recruiting the four-star TE from practically the beginning of his recruitment and have made it well known he is a priority for them. After closing up its 2017 recruiting class void of a TE commitment, the position was one of the biggest needs going into the recruiting season this year.

Ohio State has its hands full in securing a commitment from Ruckert though. While he visited Columbus back in January for Ohio State’s junior day, he has since taken unofficial visits to both Michigan and Notre Dame and walked away impressed with both schools.

However, despite the increase in attention from the other schools, Ohio State is still viewed as the runaway favorite to land Ruckert when it is all said and done. The program holds 100% of the 247Sports Crystall Ball Predictions and the Buckeyes coaching staff has made sure to keep good communication with him as well.

Ruckert also mentioned in his tweet that he plans to announce his decisions in the next few weeks, so expect a commitment announcement before the end of July.

4-star LB could commit to OSU this week

Ohio State has already earned commitments from two blue-chip linebacker recruits in its 2018 class and it appears as if another elite LB talent will join them sooner rather than later.

K’Vaughan Pope (Dinwiddie, VA / Dinwiddie) has been on Ohio State’s radar for a long time now and the early work the Buckeyes coaching staff put in will likely be paying off very soon. The four-star ILB has been on Ohio State’s campus twice since April, most recently attending a camp in June when some thought he could be on commitment watch. However, following the camp Pope left Columbus without doing so.

It seems that was not due to a lack of interest in the school because during The Opening, he spoke with Jeremy Birmingham of Landof10.com and said that he wants to commit to Ohio State this week, more than likely Friday.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound backer is currently ranked as the No. 8 ILB in the 2018 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, and is one of the top 150 recruits in the class overall.

Adding Pope to Teradja Mitchell and Dallas Gant would make the linebacker position one of the strongest group halls in Ohio State’s 2018 recruiting class. All three are top 150 players and are seen as some of their best at their respected positions.

Make sure to keep with Land-Grant Holy Land this week as we will be following Pope’s commitment closely.

Quick Hits

• Four-star DE Greg Emerson spurred the Buckeyes when he committed to Tennessee yesterday.
• Ohio State missed out on another recruit yesterday when three-star OT John Campbell chose to commit to Miami.
• For in-depth analysis of The Opening, check out SBNation’s Live Recruiting Updates and Analysis put together by Bud Elliott.