Ohio State has solid recruiting weekend despite continued COVID-19 restrictions

Between eating sandwiches, taking naps, and keeping tabs on your toilet paper stash, you might’ve missed out on some of the latest recruiting news surrounding the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Don’t worry! Land-Grant Holy Land is here to help get you caught back up on things.

Buckeyes land Oklahoma transfer

With injuries to Master Teague and Marcus Crowley, the Ohio State Buckeyes running back room was looking a little thin. Always on the hunt to add depth, Ryan Day, Tony Alford, and the OSU staff can breathe a little easier now thanks to the commitment of Oklahoma grad transfer Trey Sermon.

Committing to Ohio State nearly a week after announcing his plans to leave Norman via the transfer portal, Sermon will now call Columbus his home.

While he didn’t get a chance to check out campus after leaving OU with things shut down, Sermon isn’t a stranger to OSU. He’s been on campus both as a four-star recruit out of Sprayberry High in Marietta, Georgia, and as a freshman with the Sooners — scoring a touchdown late in the 31-16 victory by Oklahoma in 2017.

Coming off a knee injury, Sermon has shown big time ability on the ground and through the air while playing in the Big 12. During Sermon’s three years in Norman, he rushed for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns, while also hauling in 36 receptions for another 391 yards and three trips to pay dirt.

Want to see what Trey Sermon will add to the Buckeyes offense? Check out these highlights of him in action:

2021 OL names leaders

When you have around 40 college offers on the table, trimming things down might take some time. Still thinking things over before he verbally commits, one of the top lineman in the class of 2021 did just that over the weekend when he announced his top 14 college leaders via Twitter.

With offers from across the country, Oak Park (MI) four-star standout Rayshaun Benny is starting to focus more on what exactly Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Michigan State, Penn State, LSU, Michigan, Georgia, Miami, Auburn, and Arizona State have to offer him on and off of the football field.

Seeing time on both sides of the ball for Oak Park, the 6-foot-5, 275-pounder is currently pegged as the 16th offensive tackle, and 126th overall prospect in the class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. With a skill set to play offense or defense at the next level, recruiting analyst Allen Trieu had the following to say on Benny’s game:

“Build wise, he looks like an inside-outside swing guy on the hoof. Has played both sides of the ball in high school and plays with tenacity and has good functional strength already. Runs his feet on contact and plays with good balance. Has good feet and athleticism in pass protection but has to get stronger in his punch and improve hand technique. Can play guard or right tackle in college. Natural athleticism and intangibles are that of a multi-year Power 5 starter and will have an opportunity to play on Sunday.”

Like the aforementioned Trey Sermon, and many highly sought after recruits, Benny had plans to make the trek to Columbus to mix it up with head coach Ryan Day, Greg Studrawa, and the rest of the Ohio State football staff, but with the coronavirus outbreak, those plans have had to be changed for the foreseen future.

Will Benny make it to Columbus once things calm down and get back to normal? Stick with the Land-Grant Holy Land recruiting team for the latest.

Quick Hits

• Columbus Northland alum Seth Towns is coming home. A grad-transfer forward from Harvard, Towns announced on ESPN’s SportsCenter that he will use his final two years on the college level to suit up at Ohio State. The 6-foot-7 former Ivy League Player of the Year chose the Buckeyes over the Blue Devils of Duke.
• Class of 2021 defensive tackle Marcus Bradley will release his top five colleges in the near future. A four-star prospect from Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Bradley holds offers from the likes of Ohio State, Duke, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Penn State, to name a few.