Multiple top prospects include Ohio State in top-10, No. 1 receiver talks OSU recruitment

Hey, did you know that even though the Major League Baseball owners are continually attempting to cut their noses off to spite their faces while potentially endangering the chances of an MLB season being played in 2020, they still figured out how to hold the first round of an abbreviated draft on Wednesday night.

Tywone Knows

While two Buckeyes are expected to be picked early in today’s rounds, it got me thinking about 2021, four-star defensive tackle Tywone Malone from Oradell, NJ. Though he is rated as the No. 56 player in the country and No. 4 defensive tackle according to 247Sports Composite rankings, football might not be his best sport, or at least not the one that he could make the most money playing.

On Wednesday, 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong released an article about Malone’s prowess on both the gridiron and the diamond. In the story, Malone’s football coach compared him to Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith, while his baseball coach compared him to MLB Hall of Famer Frank Thomas.

As a former high school and college baseball and softball coach, I have long preached the value of playing multiple sports. While focusing all of your time and energy on one sport might theoretically give you more opportunities to perfect your craft, it also increases your chances of getting burnt out — thus resulting in not working as hard at said opportunities to perfect your craft — but more importantly, it limits your athletic abilities.

By playing multiple sports, your body is constantly developing and refining new skills, and as you step up in competition, having a well-rounded bag of athletic tricks at your disposal becomes increasingly important.

While I am sure that Ryan Day would prefer Malone — should he pick OSU — focus on football during the spring as opposed to playing baseball, it’s good to know that he has put in the work to make himself a well-rounded prospect.

Top-10 Season

On Wednesday, four-star athlete Dasan McCullough from Olathe, Kansas dropped his top 10. He is currently rated as the 73rd best prospect in the 2022 class by 247Sports, and while there is a lot of time until a decision has to be made, I’m going to take it as a good sign that Brutus is dead center in the top row on McCullough’s announcement edit.

Another highly sought-after prospect also cut his list of schools down on Wednesday, as four-star, 2022 offensive tackle Julian Armella released his top-10 on Twitter as well, and like McCullough, Armella’s list included the Buckeyes. The Gulliver Prep (FL) rising-junior is currently rated as the 127th best player in his cycle, and the 14th best offensive lineman according to 247Sports. While Brutus isn’t as perfectly placed in this one (which is why I am only linking the tweet, instead of embedding it), Armella did speak to 247Sports’ (paywall) Ohio State insider Bill Kurelic about how OSU is recruiting him.

Armella said that he is currently talking to two Buckeye assistant coaches. “We stay in a lot of contact,” Armella said. “I talk to the offensive line coach, coach (Greg) Stud(rawa) and the wide receivers coach, coach (Brian) Hartline. It’s going great. Even with the crazy times right now we have a great relationship.”

You should head over to 247 and read the whole article; Kurelic’s stuff is always well-worth it.

You Tell Me

Over at Ohio State’s Rivals site, Buckeye Grove, Joseph Hastings spoke with the country’s No. 1 wide receiver Emeka Egbuka about his recruiting process. The five-star rising-senior from Washington state is the eighth-ranked player in the country, and currently has a 94.1 percent crystal ball rating to pledge to play for the Buckeyes according to 247, although nothing is ever guaranteed.

I’m not exactly sure what Hastings and Egbuka talked about, because the article is paywalled, and I don’t have a Rivals subscription, but if you do, you should go read it and let me know what it says.

Hoop Dreams

Quickly looking to the hardwood, yesterday ESPN recruiting guru and former Ohio State assistant coach Paul Biancardi shared a video of 2020 OSU commit Zed Key working on his fundamentals. The 6-foot-7, three-star prospect from Long Island, NY is currently rated as the No. 136 player in the country and 21st center according to 247Sports Composite rankings.