Archives for May 2015

Vincent wears #56

6’3 285 lbs. Taron Vincent has experienced a quick jump to his recruiting process, already obtaining offers from top programs such as Ohio State, Maryland, Wisconsin, and N.C. State. Vincent has already caught the attention from programs across the country and will have a large amount of offers to choose from in the near future. The Baltimore, M.D. native has been busy, especially last month taking visits, particularly to Ohio State for the spring game.

After just one season of playing high school football, Vincent has already had a good experience with his recruiting process. “It’s been good. My parents have been telling me to keep focused on high school for now and then focus more on the process later on.” Vincent said. “I would say N.C. State is showing the most interest right now because my brother plays there. I get down there the most often.”

“They were my first offer so they would always be in my top schools.”

Most recently, Vincent made it out to UCLA for a visit. In the past, Vincent went out to watch a couple spring games, including UCLA’s, Ohio State’s and N.C. State’s. Vincent explained his experience at Ohio State as “It was great. I got to spend some one on one time with Coach Johnson. I was able to tour the facilities, see the stadium. The atmosphere was crazy with all the people there, I never saw that many people at a spring game before.”

Vincent received his offer a couple months ago when he was notified from one of his coaches. “I was excited to get an offer from the national champions” Vincent said. On top of that, the Vincent family has had a connection with Coach Johnson for a while now. “When my brother was getting recruited for college, Coach Johnson was one of his primary recruiters, so he has been around for a while now.”

For the summer, Vincent plans to partake in camps at Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Michigan, and Michigan State. As far as a commitment date, he would like to commit either before or at the very end of his junior year. But, before this, Vincent has some plans on improving his game. “I want to improve getting lower out of my stance along with using my hands more.” Vincent said.

Look for the Ohio State to stay close to Vincent throughout these next few years in his recruiting process. He is a big defensive tackle who can get to the ball quickly. It will be exciting to see his development and what the future holds.

Watch some highlights here.

The past couple of Buckeye recruiting classes have had a majority of East Coast commits, although they do snatch a couple of West Coast prospects as well. For the 2016 class, Ohio State is pushing hard for the Corona, California native, Javon McKinley. McKinley, rated the 13th wide receiver in his class, and the 15th best prospect out of California (Per 247Sports), had a tremendous past junior season with 2062 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. This was a huge leap from his sophomore season, where he only caught for 517 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.

His significant past season has earned him scholarships from top-tier programs across the country, including Ohio State who offered McKinley just a few short months ago. With McKinley currently holding 22 offers, it is safe to say he has been through a lot throughout his recruiting process. “The recruiting process has been treating me really well. I am just glad to have the opportunity to being recruited so much. It has had its ups and downs but I’ve enjoyed it.” McKinley said. Out of all the schools showing interest, McKinley narrowed down the ones recruiting him the hardest. “Washington, Washington State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Illinois, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Miami are recruiting me the hardest right now.”

Before making a list of his favorite schools, McKinley wants to get out and see a couple more programs and has been thinking about his future plans regarding the process. “I am planning to visit Ohio State for an official visit. My other ones are Notre Dame, Oregon, and Tennessee regarding my visits.” McKinley said.

Regarding his offer from Ohio State, McKinley was happy to get an offer from the national champs. “It felt great to get an offer from the national champions. I have been talking to Zach Smith who is a real good guy. I have been talking to him a lot and I am looking forward to getting out to visit the school and meet all the coaches.” McKinley said.

“I think I would work well in that (Ohio State) offense. A lot of coaches tell me that with my size, I am tell enough to be inside. But I am not too tall to play outside, I can play all over the field.”

McKinley saw a significant increase in his statistics from the past two seasons, but still wants to improve. “I am a more bump and run receiver. I would like improve working the defensive back’s hitch on their coverage.”

With a set commitment date at the Army All-American Bowl Game, look for Ohio State to continue recruiting McKinley hard.

You can watch his junior season highlights here.

It seems as if Urban Meyer’s recruiting classes are improving throughout each class. There are high expectations for the 2016 and 2017 classes, and the expectations are the same, if not higher for the 2018 class. The Buckeyes have already went out and offered several high school freshman, including players like Ricky Slade, Tyreke Johnson, Zamir White, and Joey Gatewood. Along side these young offensive play-makers is the only current offensive line offer for the 2018 class, coming from Will Lawrence.

This early in the recruiting process, there are no position rankings out for the 2018 class, but the pile of over twenty offers speaks for itself for the 6’4, 280 lbs offensive tackle from Memphis, Tennessee. Yes, over twenty offers, as a freshman in high school. Lawrence first started his journey partaking in camps at several schools such as Ohio State, Tennessee, and Baylor. His first offer came from Cincinnati back just a littler less than a year ago in June.

Lawrence earned a Buckeye offer, which was his seventh, back in December. Now with over twenty offers, its clear the recruiting process has already started to get going early for Lawrence; he has gathered offers from top programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee, and more. “So far, the recruiting process has been great. I have learned a lot about how important is to keep working hard and sending out film to coaches. Really just hard work and dedication throughout it all.” Lawrence said.

Lawrence is looking to release a list of favorite schools in about a year, once he is able to visit more schools. “I’ve only visited Auburn and Alabama in the last so many months. I want to start visiting a lot more schools which will help determine that.” Lawrence said.

As for Ohio State: Back in June, Lawrence was able to get out to Columbus for camp. “Last year at the camp was fun. The day of, I went on a visit to see facilities. The camp was great, I learned a lot and I had a great time.” Lawrence explained.

“Coach Johnson told me over the phone that I had an offer from Ohio State, which was really exciting.”

Coaches are seeing many great attributes in Lawrence’s game, a main reason as to why he has so many offers in just one season of high school football. “I think programs really like my pass protection and love my kick. I do need to work on finishing back. Right now, kicking back in the pocket is definitely my strengths.”

As for next season, Lawrence wants to gather ten wins, win every playoff game, and win a state championship. A commitment date is estimated in the spring of his junior year, which has a good chance of changing since there is so much time left to alter his decisions. So early in the process it is hard to get a feel for where Lawrence is favoring. He is still in the early steps of getting out to, and hearing from schools. Look for the Buckeyes to keep on him hard throughout these next couple of years.

Watch some highlights here.

Wait for it…Wait for it…Wait for it…BOOM!💥💥💥#GoBucks

— Kerry Coombs (@OsuCoachCoombs) May 7, 2015

This tweet has sent twitter a buzz today. Everyone wondering who is the new commit.

Well Urban Myer has stolen a prized possession from Jim Harbaugh, right next door to the Outhouse in Ann Arbor.

i am proud to announce i will be playing football for The Ohio State

— Michael Jordan (@Madj1998) May 7, 2015

6’6 285lb tackle Michael Jordan from Canton, Mi (Plymouth) has commited to the good guys. Michael is listed as the #11 Tackle by the four letter network, #16 at 247 and #21 at Rivals. Jordan has had numerous offers including from Harbaugh, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Boston College to name a few.

Michael made an unofficial visit to Columbus for the Spring Game and must have been impressed with the 100k plus fans that supposedly had nothing to do but watch the best football team in the nation practice. He too must have been impressed by the fans, coaches, campus, and fellow players. Hey whats not to love about Ohio State right.

Urban Meyer knows how important building up the trenches is and this is great for Ohio State and great for Michael Jordan.

Welcome to Buckeye Nation young man can’t wait to see you wearing the Scarlet and Gray.

You can watch his highlights here.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2880489/michael-jordan

Head Coach Urban Meyer is scheduled to have his appendix removed today. Although this was unplanned, there are no major concerns up to this point. Meyer, was planning on attending an event at the University of Findlay, but will not make that trip since he is likely to spend the night in the hospital.

Doug Lesmerises stated “ Ohio State had made it public that Meyer would be forced to miss an event at the University of Findlay on Wednesday night because of an unplanned surgery. And anything regarding Meyer’s health is of note given some past health issues.

But Shelley made clear this is a routine, though unplanned, medical situation and said just after noon on Wednesday that she was in the hospital with her husband with the surgery soon to begin. He may be held overnight in the hospital.”

There is still a great possibility Meyer will still throw out the first pitch Friday at the New York Yankees game. Currently, he is still planned for that trip to New York.