3-2-1: A couple of surprises to unpack this week

In this recruiting-themed edition of "3-2-1," which is presented by Infinit Nutrition, BuckeyeGrove takes a look at some of the most recent news relating to Ohio State football recruiting.

Down below, we talk about three things we learned recently, a couple of questions that we still have and dish out a prediction about the dead period.

Some of the topics below include a recap of a Rivals250 target's surprise visit to Columbus, what to make of Tony Alford's recent running back offer, the possibility of another Buckeye Bash this summer, and much more.

1. Key running back target checked out Ohio State this week

Surprise, surprise.

On Wednesday, it was publicly revealed that Rivals250 running back Dallan Hayden had taken a self-guided visit to Ohio State. He arrived on Tuesday night, and was able to tour the school the following morning.

I was aware of this visit beforehand, but was told by Hayden to keep it under wraps.

Either way, Hayden spent multiple days in the Buckeye State, and liked everything that he saw during his stay. Hayden had a couple of things he was thinking about before embarking on this trip — such as whether or not he could see himself living there or if it is a nice city — and all of the final responses to those questions were answered with a “yes.”

Besides opening up about this week’s experience, Hayden spoke with BuckeyeGrove’s Kevin Noon about his communication with Ryan Day and Tony Alford. Hayden had nothing but praise when talking about his relationship with Ohio State’s running backs coach.

"I can't say anything negative at all. It's been awesome," Hayden said of communication with Alford. "Ever since he offered me after the first game of my junior year, he's been in contact every day. Talk to him every day. He talks to my family, getting to know them. We have a great relationship. I've done a couple of Zooms with him and, yeah, he's definitely one of the best there is."

There were a lot of other things to unpack in this 10-minute video interview. In case you missed it, you can watch it at the top of THIS article.

While speaking with Noon, Hayden had high praise for the Buckeyes’ ability to develop players at his position, such as Ezekiel Elliott. The Rivals250 prospect actually showed up to the school wearing a No. 15 Elliott jersey.

Hayden would also go on to say that he is hearing from several future Buckeyes, namely Bennett Christian. He does not yet know when he will make his decision, but Hayden said Ohio State is “definitely in the mix.”

While he wouldn’t say where exactly tOSU stands in his pecking order, my personal opinion is that this is a battle between the Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I haven’t put in a FutureCast just yet, but I would give the edge to Alford and Company at this juncture.

Ohio State is doing everything right in their pursuit of Hayden, and I think there’s a good chance it could pay dividends before it’s all said and done.

2. Rivals250 RB nets an offer from the Buckeyes

Speaking of 2022 running backs, an interesting piece of news surfaced on Tuesday.

Omarion Hampton, who is the 10th-ranked RB in this cycle, reported this week that the Buckeyes had extended an offer to him. Hampton possesses offers from the likes of Auburn, Florida, North Carolina, Penn State and Tennessee.

For a long time, most figured this would definitely be a two-running back class for the Buckeyes. This made sense given their current RB room, which added Rivals100 recruits Evan Pryor and TreVeyon Henderson as early signees in December.

Damari Alston, a target out of Georgia, even said in a recent interview that he was told Ohio State is only looking to sign one player at the position. So, there’s two ways someone can interpret this Hampton offer: The Buckeyes are sliding for each of those targets, or they do indeed want two RBs.

From what I’ve heard, it is the latter.

I was told after this week’s offer that the program is looking to sign two running backs “if possible.” I interpreted this as the Buckeyes wanting a pair of RBs if the numbers allow them to.

Remember, the program has yet to add any defensive linemen or any safeties in this class. We also know they want at least one more linebacker and at least two more offensive linemen. They’re also continuing their pursuit of a third wideout to join Caleb Burton and Kyion Grayes.

So, the running back situation could ultimately depend on how things play out with other position groups in this class. I would lean toward them signing just one player at the position in the 2022 cycle, but we won’t have a clearer picture until we get closer to the Early Signing Period, when the class is nearly full.

3. Texas-based prospects discuss their interest in Ohio State

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to cover the Under Armour Camp Series event in Dallas, Texas. I will also be in attendance for the UA camp in Atlanta this upcoming Sunday.

Going back over to my time in the Lone Star State, I came away impressed by a couple of prospects who are targets for the Buckeyes: Neto Umeozulu and Tre Wisner. Umeozulu maintained great form from his guard position and gave up little to no ground in head-to-head battles, while Wisner displayed incredible route running and catching for a running back who is just a sophomore.

As for what each player I spoke with told me after the camp, there was a lot of good news if you’re an tOSU fan.

For one, Umeozulu says he’s been speaking with a trio of coaches — Day, Greg Studrawa and Kennedy Cook — since being offered in January. He’s also been impressed with their winning tradition, and is hearing from five-star QB pledge Quinn Ewers.

I also had the chance to catch up with Duncanville High School offensive linemen Cameron Williams and Jaylen Early.

Early told me that he speaks with nearly a handful of coaches on a consistent basis, and has even conducted a couple of virtual visits with the program. He has Ohio State in his top 10, and expects them to make his next round of cuts.

As for Williams, he confirmed with me that he intends on taking an official visit to Ohio State once the dead period concludes. He is also intrigued by the team’s future with Burton and Ewers set to join the fold next year.

Four-star prospect Emeka Megwa may not be as high of a priority for the program as the other running backs listed above, but he did tell me Ohio State in his top five. Megwa wants to take an official visit to Columbus as well, and sees a lot of similarities between himself and former Buckeye Trey Sermon.

The sophomores I spoke with — Anthony Hill, Jalen Hale and Wisner — also spoke highly of Ohio State.

Texas is a hotbed of talent every single recruiting cycle, and it sounds like Day and his staff will continue to have success in the state for years to come.

1. Who will be the next commit of the 2022 class?

This question was posed last night by one of our members, @Trenton_Bond, and I believe it’s a good one to ponder.

The most recent addition to Ohio State’s class came just under three weeks ago as Rivals250 wideout Kyion Grayes committed to the program during his trip to the school. They’re now at 11 total commitments, so the Buckeyes are halfway, or close to halfway, done recruiting in this cycle.

For this section, I am going to choose from a group of players that have FutureCast predictions in favor of Ohio State.

First off, starting with Xavier Nwankpa, the Rivals100 safety has been treated by the commits as an unofficial member of the Buckeyes’ 2022 class for a while now. He also has seven FutureCast predictions that are in Ohio State's favor, with no other program having one on his profile.

While I do believe Nwankpa will join this class, I just don’t see it happening soon. I think he would prefer to take a visit to Columbus before making any decisions, and will probably narrow his list down from 12 before he commits.

Switching over to Shawn Murphy, the five-star linebacker is taking a very patient approach in his process. He has a top eight, but is not giving any indication as to when he will release another top schools list or take his visits.

I give a slight edge to the Buckeyes here at this time, but I believe it’s still too early to say when and where he will commit.

Staying on the defensive side of the ball, Christen Miller is a player who pushed his commitment date back from April 4 to “unknown.” Our Carson MacRae reported that this was due to Ohio State offering him and the borderline Rivals100 DT’s desire to visit the school’s campus.

So, if Miller hypothetically visits next week or in the near future, he could definitely be the next player to team up with the Buckeyes.

Going over to Aliou Bah, I heard that he could possibly commit after Grayes did last month, yet nothing came of that. It is very much possible that they could be asking him to hold off for now, but that is an educated guess.

Bah is likely to join this class if he has the green light, though a visit may be necessary before that happens.

Finally, the safest answer for this question is Aamil Wagner. Wagner has received five FutureCasts in favor of Ohio State since landing an offer last week, lives roughly an hour away from the school, and there is growing optimism that Ryan Day’s program can land him soon.

I wouldn’t rule out a player like Dallan Hayden either, but Wagner appears to be the likeliest prospect to join tOSU’s 2022 class next.

2. When will there be another Buckeye Bash event?

This is a question I’ve been wondering for the better part of the last four or five months.

After the 2021 edition of this event, I was told by a few junior commits that they wanted to have their own Buckeye Bash soon. It went from January, to February, and now to "up in the air" as a result of the dead period continuing to be extended.

I bring up this question now, however, as I recently received an interesting direct message from Charles Burton, father of Rivals100 wideout Caleb Burton. The elder Burton told me that his son intends on making his way up to Columbus alongside the other Ohio State commits.

Burton went on to say that they are attempting to come up with a date as soon as it’s officially the quiet period.

For those who do not know about what this means, a quiet period is essentially a time when coaches can interact with recruits face-to-face on campus. They are not allowed, however, to take trips out to prospects’ high schools and watch them play.

A recent report by CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd says the NCAA Oversight Committee could wind up recommending a quiet period following the end of the dead period. This would mean that the quiet period could begin as soon as June 1.

So, to answer the question posed above, it is very possible that this Buckeye Bash-type of event transpires in June or July. We’re not too sure about who will be in attendance at this time, but it would be a big weekend for the Buckeyes if some targets wind up visiting with commits as well.

As seen over the past year, there are no guarantees with what the NCAA will do when it comes to the recruiting calendar.

Despite pushback from high school prospective student-athletes, this entity has continued to extend the dead period and prevent these young kids from making a well-informed decision.

But, this time around, I believe the dead period will end as scheduled. The quiet period seems to be the likeliest option, but I do envision there being some restrictions when it comes to on-campus visits.

I am interested in seeing if college-hosted camps will still transpire, and if there will be a limit as to how many prospects can be on a campus at any given time. Also, will there be a cap on the number of official visitors a school can host for each weekend?

There are a lot of unknowns here, but I do think that the end is near. This will be great for recruits to finally start taking trips, getting a proper evaluation of their options, and interacting with their potential future coaches and teammates in person.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.