Tag: Will Smith

Friday Night Notes: Double WR intrigue, Oklahoma State stocks up on starpower, plus more

Jeremiah Smith’s upcoming visits, another potential Colorado flip and more.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

We begin in Columbus, where Ohio State has already lost one elite recruit in the 2024 cycle. The No. 1 overall player and top-ranked quarterback Dylan Raiola de-committed from the Buckeyes in December and seems to be deciding between reigning two-time champion Georgia and Nebraska, where he has family ties.

On the bright side, Ryan Day and company still have the No. 1 wide receiver in the class in Jeremiah Smith. However, it’s a long way from signing time, and Smith is evaluating his options. According to Ryan Wright at Rivals, Smith has official visits set for Florida and Miami. He’s also looking into both Georgia and Florida State.

Smith (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) is not only the best wide receiver in his class, he’s ranked second overall behind Raiola. Needless to say, losing both would be devastating for the Buckeyes’ recruiting outlook for 2024 and beyond.

Then again, even if they eventually lose Smith’s commitment, it’s not the end of the road. If the recruitments of 2023’s top cornerback Cormani McClain and quarterback Jaden Rashada have taught us anything, this new-look NIL/recruiting game is more fluid than ever. McClain initially committed to Florida, then flipped to Miami, then finally settled on signing with Colorado. Meanwhile, Rashada committed to Miami, signed with Florida and wound up with Arizona State.

In other words, don’t expect this to be a settled matter anytime soon. The competition for Smith may eventually become even more fierce than it was for those two. According to On3, Smith has offers from 41 different programs to choose from.

Signing Day Superlatives: Which Ohio State signees will have major impacts

This class is has a ton of talent #GoBucks

For most of the recruiting world, Christmas used to be in February. That all changed when the early signing period was introduced. It is much closer to the actual holiday, and on Wednesday recruits who have been committed to their respective schools can finally make it official.

For [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag], it once again signed a top recruiting class, headlined by multiple players who could have gone anywhere in the country to play football.

There are plenty of impact players all over this class, and I took a crack at which ones will make what kind of impact during their Ohio State careers.

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Will Smith Jr., son of late Saints Super Bowl champ, signs with his father’s alma mater

Will Smith Jr., son of late Saints Super Bowl champ, signed with his father’s alma mater. He’ll be looking to make a splash at Ohio State:

Now this is really cool. Will Smith Jr. is following in his late father’s footsteps, having signed with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Smith Jr. is a four-star recruit for the 2023 class; the elder Smith earned All-American honors at Ohio State before being selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2004 NFL draft. He helped the team win Super Bowl XLIV and usher in the brightest era of Saints football in franchise history, but was tragically slain in a 2016 shooting.

But Smith’s family has gone on to carry on his legacy, and now one of his children will be representing him at his old stomping grounds. Smith Jr. described the decision to sign with the Buckeyes as an “easy call” given his father’s history with Ohio State. He plays defensive line just like his dad did, and he’s eager to get to work.

And, hey, we can’t rule out the possibility of Smith Jr. ending up in New Orleans someday. The Saints have made no secret of the value they put on draft prospects coming out of Ohio State — their roster is littered with former Buckeyes like Chris Olave, Pete Werner, Marshon Lattimore, Bradley Roby, and Michael Thomas.

Maybe Smith Jr. joins them someday. For now, we’ll wish him well in his studies at Ohio State and look for him when the Buckeyes hit the field next fall. Good on him for taking his football journey to the next level.

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Where each 2023 Ohio State football recruit landed on 247Sports updated rankings

It’s no surprise that this class is ranked as one of the best in the country. #GoBucks

When you assemble one of the top-rated recruiting classes in the country, you are bound to have plenty of players who are among the highest-rated in the nation. That is exactly the case for Ryan Day and his Ohio State Buckeyes football program.

The evidence is here, as 247Sports has updated their Top 247 recruits and it is littered with Buckeye commitments. In total there were twelve future OSU stars that made the list with room to add a few more before the early signing period and the traditional signing day in February. Find out below where each of those 12 verbal commits landed in the updated rankings.

(Note: This list has now been updated from 12 to 13 players with the verbal commitment from quarterback [autotag]Lincoln Kienholz[/autotag] on Wednesday, December 14th.)

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Ohio State a finalist for 2023 5-star California defensive end

The Buckeyes could score a huge recruiting win in Cali! #GoBucks

If you follow recruiting, which I know most of you do, it should come as no surprise to see this news. Five-star California defensive end [autotag]Matayo Uiagalelei[/autotag], DJ’s younger brother, has [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] in his top 3 along with [autotag]USC[/autotag] and [autotag]Oregon[/autotag].

Ohio State has been looking hard to fill a few spots on the defensive line, even though they already have [autotag]Jason Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Smith[/autotag] already committed. In a report by 247Sports Greg Biggins, Uiagalelei states that he is going to be making his decision on signing day and he “still don’t know where I’m going.” Buckeye defensive line coach [autotag]Larry Johnson[/autotag] will be out to see the star end playing in his state championship game this weekend also.

If [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] were to get a verbal commitment from Uiagalelei it would be a huge recruiting win as they need some depth at the position. We will know soon where the big Californian is headed.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Will Smith talked to Lakers about togetherness and gratitude

A controversial yet immensely successful actor and Hollywood heavyweight gave the Lakers an inspiring speech.

Actor Will Smith may be in hot water these days after his infamous incident at the Academy Awards in March, but he still has an immense stature in Hollywood.

The Los Angeles Lakers invited him to their facilities to talk to them about the power of staying together and practicing gratitude while going through adversity. It was the latest installment in their “Genius Talk” series, which has attracted other giants such as Elon Musk, Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, Kendrick Lamar and Denzel Washington.

The Lakers certainly needed to hear some words of inspiration, as they’re 0-4 on the new season and can’t seem to rectify their ills.

Los Angeles has been icy cold from 3-point range, hitting just 22.3% from that distance. Although the team has been pretty competitive in its last three games, its inability to score enough points has been responsible for almost all of its downfall.

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The Lakers will certainly need to heed Smith’s words about togetherness, as a rough schedule to start the year continues on Friday when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Doug Baldwin: Will Smith was wrong, can’t escape accountability

Former Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin has never been wrong about anything.

Chris Rock told a tasteless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair condition at the Oscar’s on Sunday night. However, Will Smith’s reaction was beyond over the top. He stormed the stage and slapped Rock, then returned to his seat and cursed at him in full view of a massive international audience.

Since then, just about everybody has offered an opinion on the slap heard ’round the world. Rock is not completely blameless but from where we’re sitting the only opinions that are really worth hearing are the ones condemning Smith for his actions. Former Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin has never been wrong about anything. Here’s what No. 89 had to say about it on Twitter.

Will Smith has since apologized but there’s speculation that he may be forced to give up the Best Actor award he won for his performance in King Richard just minutes after the incident took place.

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“She voiced that she struggled with …

“She voiced that she struggled with [Alopecia], and Chris Rock thought it was cool to crack a joke,” Villanueva said. “We are not with Jada everyday to know the level of the struggle, but Will does. As I don’t condone violence, Im proud that Will Smith stood up for his wife.” Villanueva added, “As a fellow Alopecians, I stand with Will and Jada.”