Tag: ohio state recruiting

Ohio State football gets commitment from 2021 four-star defensive tackle

Four-star 2021 defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. announced his verbal commitment to Ohio State Saturday.

Boom!

Ohio State football got another big-time commitment today for the 2021 class. Four-star defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr, announced his commitment to the Buckeyes on his Twitter account Saturday. He makes the tenth recruitment for what is building to become a sensational class.

Out of Streetboro, Ohio, Hall Jr. is rated as the No. 19 overall defensive tackle in the class, and the ninth rated recruit in the state of Ohio according to 247Sports. He chose OSU over the likes of Florida State, Michigan State, Penn State, and others.

It’s still extremely early, but the commitment from Hall Jr. catapults Ohio State back into the No. 1 spot over No. 2 Clemson in the 247Sports composite team recruiting rankings for 2021.

Ohio State football has four five-star commits in final 247Sports rankings

The final 247Sports recruiting rankings are out and Ohio State will finish with four 5-star recruits when it’s all said and done.

We always knew Ohio State had some top-end talent in its 2020 recruiting class, and now the star-ratings reflect that — at least according to the 247Sports ratings that were just finalized. There are just 32 five-star athletes meaning they are the very top of the top. And in Ohio State’s case, it has four players out of those 32.

The five-stars include the overall No. 4 recruit, wide receiver Julian Fleming, No. 8, offensive tackle Paris Johnson, Jr., Jr, No. 15, another receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and No. 29, quarterback C.J. Stroud. Both Smith-Njigba and Stroud are newly minted five-star athletes giving OSU a bit of a boost in the quality at the top according to the rankings.

With the change and update, only Clemson has more five-star players than OSU with five. Alabama also has four.

The overall class remains the No. 5 rated class in the composite rankings for 2020, and with Ohio State having already inked almost all of its class during the early signing period, it will not be moving up at all. If anything, it could slide a position or two.

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Either way, the talent in this class is a very, very good one — especially at the top end.

 

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Cameron Martinez confirms that he will sign with Ohio State

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez announced via Twitter Tuesday that he will sign with Ohio State. It’s a big recruiting win.

There will not be additional drama on the traditional signing day for college football recruits it appears. By now you know Ohio State signed almost every piece of its 2020 recruiting class during the early signing period save for one very, very important piece.

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez has been a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes since July 4 of 2019, but he decided to wait and see who Ryan Day brought in to replace Jeff Hafley on defense. Wait he did, and now it appears as though the home-run hire/re-hire of Kerry Coombs has sealed the deal.

According to a Tweet Martinez shared to Twitter on Tuesday, he will indeed be signing with Ohio State.

Martinez, out of Muskegon, Michigan is rated as the No. 14 athlete in the 2020 class according to 247Sports.

This is great news for Ohio State, and there’s no doubt Ryan Day and staff are high-fiving behind the scenes. It became a real possibility that OSU would lose MLive’s two-time Michigan player of the year. And the timing would not have been ideal.

OSU already lost out on a highly-touted defensive back commit, Clark Phillips III when he flipped from Ohio State to Utah. Another loss of an athlete that could end up on that side of the ball would put the back-end of the defense in an extremely thin position.

Now, none of that matters because the Buckeyes got their guy. You can think Kerry Coombs and Ryan Day for keeping this one together.

 

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Cade Denhoff, a four-star DE target, has committed to Clemson over Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes were not able to get a visit from four-star SDE Cade Denhoff before he committed to the Clemson Tigers.

This stings.

Four-star defensive end Cade Denhoff, an Ohio State target, is headed to Clemson. Denhoff was also targeted by LSU, Alabama, Penn State, and many other top-tier programs.

Denhoff was the Class of 2021’s seventh-ranked strongside defensive end according to 247Sports. Thankfully for Ohio State, they already have the top-ranked SDE, Jack Sawyer, inbound.

However, at the same time, combining Denhoff and Sawyer could’ve helped Ohio State easily boast the most dominant defensive line in college football. But, that’s now just a pipe dream.

What made Ohio State different than the rest of the bunch was the fact that the interest was mutual.

Denhodd, according to 247 Sports’ Bucknuts, was planning to visit Ohio State in January or February, making his early decision even more saddening for Ohio State faithful.

The Buckeyes have nine players already committed from the Class of 2021. With the No. 2 class in the nation, they’re only trailing Denhoff’s new home, Clemson who has two more four-star recruits.

Notre Dame offers 4-Star LB Mondon from Georgia

On Thursday evening, Notre Dame extended in offer to class of ’21 LB Smael Mondon.

Recruiting never sleeps and the Irish are at it again, this time offering Georgia linebacker Smael Mondon Jr, from Paulding High School Thursday evening. The four star outside linebacker stands six-foot-three and weighs 210 pounds.

The Irish currently do not have any commits at the position in their 2021 class, and if they were to add Mondon it would be a huge coup for Brian Kelly and Clark Lea.

Mondon also plays running back for the Paulding Patriots, and after his junior year, earned region 7AAAAA Athlete/All-Purpose Player of the Year. A linebacker that can run like Mondon is always in high demand and taking one look at his highlight reel he is quite an impressive prospect. Mondon also excels on special teams, lining up for his Patriots on the edge and blocking multiple field goal attempts. Mondon reads and reacts well in the passing game as well, with his speed shining in that area once again.

Mondon has a very impressive offer list, which include Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and many others. He is a national recruit and if the Irish are able to pull him out from the South, it would be a fantastic start for the linebacker position in the ’21 class.

Mondon is the type of difference maker that helps win championships, and if Notre Dame expects to compete and win those kinds of games, getting a commit from Mondon will go a long way helping attain that goal.

Kerry Coombs visits Ohio State target Cameron Martinez

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs spent time visiting with four-star 2020 target Cameron Martinez Wednesday.

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs is wasting no time working on priorities. The Buckeyes are looking to keep four-star Michigan athlete Cameron Martinez committed, so that’s where Coombs spent time “planting flags” Wednesday.

You had to believe that paying a visit to the lone holdout from the early signing period would be one of the main things Coombs would jump on right away, and it took him all of two days on the job to get it done. How’s that for letting Martinez know how much he means to the program?

In fact, Martinez seemed to enjoy getting to know the new defensive coordinator and replacement for Jeff Hafley — with whom he developed a great relationship with. The two-time MLive Michigan football player of the year shared the visit on his Twitter feed.

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Martinez recently told the Detroit Free Press that he’s still planning on signing with Ohio State, and this sure looks like a good move towards that. We’ll all find out on February 5 when the traditional signing day comes around.

 

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Cameron Martinez says he still plans to sign with Ohio State … for now

The Detroit Free Press caught up with Ohio State’s only early signing period holdout. He says he still plans on signing with the Buckeyes.

It’s the last remaining fish the Ohio State football staff hopes to catch for the 2020 recruiting class. Cameron Martinez, a four-star athlete out of Muskegon, Michigan had verbally committed to the Buckeyes on July 4. But he decided not to sign during the early signing period in December because of the departure of Jeff Hafley, with whom he had built trust and a relationship with.

And so it remains. Will Martinez still sign with Ohio State on February 5, or will his gaze elsewhere while he figured things out result in either Northwestern or Notre Dame landing his services?

Well, the Detroit Free Press tried to shed some light on where Martinez is leaning at the moment, and if you’re a Buckeye fan, there does appear to be some good news, at least for now.

When speaking with the Free Press, the 5-11, 183 pounder seemed to still be planning on signing with Ohio State.

“Right now it’s Ohio State, at the moment,” Martinez told the Free Press. “I plan on signing with Ohio State… “If I didn’t want to go there,” he said. “I would have decommitted back then.”

So there you have it, but with a bit of a caveat. The only recruit to not sign with the Buckeyes in December has still been listening to other schools and keeping an open mind.

“I have been hearing schools out,” Martinez said. “I’ve told some schools no. I’m still in contact with some schools. Notre Dame talks about setting up a visit, but I haven’t made a decision yet.”

If you’re reading the Buckeye leaves on this one, one could easily surmise that Martinez still wants to wear the scarlet and gray, but was taken a little aback by the Hafley news and wants to see who comes in to take his place. Now that a familiar name is back with the past development history and NFL pedigree that Kerry Coombs possesses, one would think it would only bolster Ohio State’s chances at sealing the deal for a versatile player the Buckeyes so desperately want — and need.

In fact, Coombs is already on the recruiting trail as we speak and it would be a major surprise if he hasn’t already reached out to Martinez.

It might seem a little mixed, but I’d say to be patient on this one, and Cameron Martinez will more than likely be a Buckeye when it all goes down on February 5.

 

Notre Dame Football Offers ‘22 OLB Jaishawn Barham

Jaishawn Barham of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland announced a scholarship offer.

Early on Monday we learned that Notre Dame had offered a scholarship to 2022 outside linebacker Gabe Powers of Ohio, which we discussed on FIW.

As it turns out, Powers wasn’t the only outside linebacker to receive an offer from Brian Kelly and company on Monday as Jaishawn Barham of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland announced a scholarship offer.

Barham is listed a little thicker than Powers but not quite as tall, coming in at 6-3, 230 pounds per 247Sports.

Notre Dame is the 15th scholarship offer Barham has received as the Irish join Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech and a few others to offer.

Barham is the eleventh player Notre Dame has offered a scholarship to in the 2022 recruiting class.

Notre Dame Football: Offers Scholarship to 2022 Ohio OLB

Powers is listed at 6-4, 220 pounds, not bad size for a young man who won’t graduate high school for over two more years.

Notre Dame has continued with a busy stretch of their recruiting run as they try to get ahead of the game for 2022.

Most recently Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish offered Outside Linebacker Gabe Powers of Maryville, Ohio to be part of their 2022 class.

Powers is listed at 6-4, 220 pounds, not bad size for a young man who won’t graduate high school for over two more years.

Notre Dame became the twelfth scholarship offer Powers has received, joining Boston College, Kentucky, Colorado, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day visits Cameron Martinez

There’s one big fish still out there for the Ohio State football 2020 recruiting class, and Ryan Day was in to pay a visit this weekend.

The official and traditional signing day for college football is quickly approaching, and although Ohio State has signed almost its entire class already during the early signing period, there’s still one big fish still out there that head coach Ryan Day and staff would love to land.

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez verbally committed to the Buckeyes back in early July, but he decided to delay his signing until February to keep his options open.

It can all be traced to former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley’s departure from the program. He was the lead recruiter that had established a relationship with Martinez, and the news of Hafley taking the head coaching job at Boston College gave the MLive’s two-time Michigan high-school player of the year pause.

Since that time, it’s been a busy, flurry of activity for head coach Ryan Day and Ohio State. There was the whole lead up to Fiesta Bowl and the College Football Playoff to deal with that took everyone’s focus and time.

But now, it’s time to get back on the trail and try to let Martinez know he made the right decision in the first place. On that note, Day and special teams coordinator and assistant secondary backs coach Matt Barnes were on the recruiting trail, battling bad weather and travel to watch Martinez play in a high school basketball game over the weekend.

There are reliable sources pointing towards former Ohio State defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs coming back to Columbus to fill the spot left vacant by Hafley’s departure, and that would be a great hire to fill the void. Either way, Day’s selling of the program would likely revolve around him bringing in one of the best defensive backs coaches in America, and the virtues of what the program can offer.

According to a story by MLive, the visit did indeed strike a chord with Martinez.

“It meant a lot to me and also showed a lot,” Martinez said in a text to MLive.com. “They had a busy day and for them to come to the game and then come over (to the house) with the weather being bad, I really appreciated it. I haven’t seen them in a while, so it was good to catch up with them as well.”

So we’ll keep a watch on this and any news regarding a pending hire of sorts. With all the unknowns at the defensive back position, and the need that will be there after this year, getting Martinez, an athlete that could factor in there or at another position down the road will be key.