Ohio State suspends all recruiting visits through April 20

It has been a wild few weeks in the world in general as the globe struggles to figure out what exactly is going on with the coronavirus. Whether the disease is actually as bad as its being made out to be or not, it is better to be safe than sorry.

The NCAA is trying to get out ahead of things, albeit during one of its biggest and most important times of the year. The league has already determined that the NCAA Tournament will be taking place without fans in attendance this year, and most of the major conferences — including the Big Ten — have followed suit in utilizing a similar protocol in their respective tournaments.

While the dominos will likely continue to fall as the world at large attempts to get everything sorted out, Ohio State is taking additional measures. Football season is a long ways away, but there is still a ton going on in terms of personnel coming and going in Columbus. That will not be the case moving forward, as the school has decided to suspend all official and unofficial visits to campus through April 20, as per a tweet from head coach Ryan Day.

In addition to no on-campus visits, Ohio State’s coaching staff will not be visiting recruits off campus this spring either. It will also not host its annual spring game, which has served as a popular attraction for prospective recruits. This announcement comes just hours after Michigan announced a similar protocol, and it would not be surprising to see all of the major programs across the country take action as well.

Ohio State expects its spring practice to continue on as planned, which is scheduled to resume once the players return to campus this weekend. However, all of its other spring sports will move forward without fans in attendance, with doors opening only for the athletes, their immediate family members, coaches and staff, essential event and facility staff and credentialed members of the media.

For right now, OSU’s pro day, scheduled for March 25, will still be taking place.

Ohio State will be missing out on a ton of visits they had planned with big name recruits in the next couple of months, including guys like RB Evan Pryor (scheduled for March 18-20) OL Jager Burton (March 18) and DB Kamar Wilcoxson (March 28/April 11), among many others. While it is obviously crappy timing, the health and safety of everyone involved on both sides clearly comes first, and visits can wait until later in the year when things have gotten under control.

Quick Hits

• Ohio State lost out on a big target on Wednesday when four-star cornerback Jordan Hancock committed to Clemson. The No. 6 CB in the 2021 class, Hancock had been seemingly trending towards the Buckeyes for quite some time, and there was a feeling that he would commit to OSU had he not committed elsewhere before his visit to Columbus slated for June 12.

Instead, the Tigers were able to snag him during another one of their incredibly productive “junior days.” Worth noting, linebacker Barrett Carter — a teammate of Hancock’s at North Gwinnett — is near the top of Ohio State’s recruiting board, and was also in attendance at Clemson.