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.

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.

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.

Already with three 2016 defensive tackle commitments in Kierre Hawkins, Jonathon Cooper, and Terrell Hall. The Buckeyes are hitting the recruiting trail hard to not only come out with not only a great upcoming defensive class, but to come out with one, if not the best defensive line class. The defensive line has seen much success in the past, especially with the addition of former Penn State coach, current Ohio State defensive line coach, Larry Johnson. Johnson has helped the Buckeyes keep on the radar for some of the top defensive line prospects, including top targets Nick Bosa, Antwuan Jackson, Kyree Campbell, and Prince Sammons. Along with these four top targets includes Mike Panasiuk out of Roselle, Illinois.

Standing 6’3, 285 pounds, Panasiuk was given a three-star rating and ranked the 49th defensive tackle coming out of his class (Per 247Sports). Panasiuk holds offers from some Big Ten programs, including Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, along with some offers from programs such as Army and Florida Atlantic. “It feels good to have these offers. Every other offer I get just keeps motivating me more and more, some other school may come along and see what the like. It is a huge motivator for the upcoming season.” Panasiuk said. “The schools that are recruiting me the hardest right now are Iowa, Illinois, and Penn State.”

Panasiuk wants to wait and see which schools will come along and show interest before he decides on his favorite schools. He has visited Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio State. He most recently visited Ohio State this past month, and made it a productive one. Coach Chris Ash did recently stop by Lake Park High School to visit Panasiuk. “I got to talk to Coach (Chris) Ash and Coach (Larry) Johnson. They both said they really liked my film and want to find a time to come up and see me.” Panasiuk said. “Coach Ash keeps in contact with me. Hopefully something happens soon.”

“Having an Ohio State offer would be huge. If that came around, that would definitely change around my thinking in which schools I would want to push forward and get to know. Relationship wise, I would want to get to know the coaches a little more and some other recruits. Also I would definitely want to get up there one or two more times and get the feel of Ohio State.”

Focusing on school and track, there are no planned visits. But, there will be some plans in the summer made for the defensive tackle. Panasiuk is looking to lead Lake Park in the upcoming season after going 5-4 last season. On top of that, he is looking to continue further in his recruiting process and improve his game. “Coaches have been telling me that they can tell I love to play the game with a viscuos mentality in the trenches. I am really focusing on my strength, speed and handwork.” Pansiuk said. “I want to help my team make the playoffs and be a leader on the team. We want to go to the state championship.”

Watch Panasiuk’s highlights here.

Instate recruiting has always been a major factor in a program’s recruiting success. The great state of Ohio has been known to produce some of the top prospects in the country. With Ohio State being the top program in the state, instate recruiting always has allowed the Buckeyes to come out with the best Ohio prospects. The upcoming 2015 class brings six of the top ten ranked Ohio recruits. The 2016 class is not shy of living up to that standard. Already, the Buckeyes have grabbed six of the top twenty players out of Ohio with commitments from guys like Demario McCall, George Hill, and Jake Hausmann. The Buckeyes are still on the hunt for players such as Brendan Ferns, Prince Sammons, and Luke Farrell. Within the top 15 prospects coming out of the 2016 class lies Ethan Tucky.

The 14th rated prospect out of Ohio and 30th ranked linebacker (per 247Sports) is just a short ride to Columbus, coming from Delaware, Ohio. Tucky has been busy building relationships with coaches, taking visits, and receiving offers. “What I learned about the recruiting process is that it is almost like a relationship with every school that you talk to. After a while, you start to develop a personal relationship where you see who coaches are as an individuals. The more serious you get on a school, the more visits you take. I just always compare it to a relationship.” Tucky said.

Tucky, with ten offers from Iowa, Kentucky, Boston College, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Miami (OH), Ohio, and Toledo has been hearing from programs who are still interested in offering. “The schools showing most interest are Kentucky, Boston College, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan State. They seem to be the pushing the hardest right now.” he said. “I don’t have a list yet. As soon as I get out the schools that have contacted me. It is all about the fit to me in terms of recruiting. I want to see what every school has to offer.”

“I am going to guess by the end of summer, after I have visited and camped at schools, I will have a top five, or a top ten list of my favorite schools. But right now, I don’t have a designated list right now.”

Unfortunately, Tucky was planned to visit Ohio State for the Michigan game, but was not able to attend. To make up for it, he was able to attend the Big Ten Championship game versus Wisconsin, witnessing a total Badger beat-down. Even though it was not an unofficial visit Tucky was still able to see the Buckeyes at full force, which is always an eye opener for anyone, especially with a 59-0 blowout in a conference championship game. The last time he was in Columbus was for the Cincinnati game back in late September.

“Right now, I am just focused on my track season. I am not going around to look at too many schools at the moment. I am dedicated to my team and to improving myself.” Tucky said. He also plans on getting back to Ohio State for a game this upcoming season. “Over this summer, or definitely this fall I will be getting out to Ohio State.”

Thus far in the recruiting process for the Delaware, Ohio native, there is no offer from Ohio State. But, Tucky is looking to get out to a camp this summer and show what he can bring to the table for The Silver Bullets. To describe the situation with Ohio State as a whole, Tucky spoke very confidently about his relationship with Ohio State, and how its grown throughout the past year or so. “I know they want to see me at another camp to evaluate me. They still want to look at my upcoming game film. I honestly think an offer from them is very, very close. I am very confident with where I stand with them right now. I don’t think there are many odds against me, I hope they see what I can put out there for them.”

“Coach Fickell and I have a really good relationship. He stopped by before the dead period awhile back and I think he is stopping by soon within the next upcoming weeks. I love the guy, he is an absolute great coach and person, which has allowed us to develop a close relationship.”

Last season, Tucky lead his team with 48 tackles. He described his success was able to come from his great work ethic and his speed, or “motor” as he described. “It is crazy how fast everything has gone. I just want to play every game with my all, and end my senior season with a smile on my face, I will be beyond happy.”

With plenty of time to go in his recruiting process, Tucky is still on the edge regarding when he would like to make his college commitment official. This will either happen before or after the football season. “If I get the right fit over the summer, then I will go ahead and commit to a program.”

Tucky plans on being pretty patient with the recruiting process. He wants to make sure he has the chance to visit all the schools he is interested in and see what each of them have to offer. With Tucky being an Ohio native, it would be not too surprising if he jumped an Ohio State offer when given to him. But also, the patience could come into play no matter where he will commit.

Click the link to see Tucky in action: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1298659/highlights/176914377/v2