3-2-1: Big-time visitor will be in Columbus this weekend

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 one bold prediction.

Some of the topics below include a discussion on a key visitor who is checking out Columbus starting tomorrow, Ohio State's pursuit of one of the top safeties in the nation, the Elias Ricks situation, and much more.

1. One of the top unsigned prospects in the country will visit Columbus this weekend

To say I’m surprised by the Raesjon Davis news that broke yesterday would be an understatement.

His father was consistently telling me over the past few weeks that they were looking into visiting Ohio State before the Rivals100 linebacker signed. The family had previously considered a trip to Columbus back on Oct. 24 for the Buckeye Bash, but that didn’t transpire.

But the more the weeks went by and the more momentum USC gained, it just seemed like Davis was a lock for the Trojans.

With this news, however, everything has changed.

Davis and his family wouldn’t spend hundreds, if not over a thousand, dollars on plane tickets, a hotel and food for a multi-day stay in Columbus if there was not legitimate interest in the Buckeyes. The fact that they won’t even be able to interact with the coaching staff tells me Davis views Ohio State as a legitimate option, and there should be reason for concern on USC’s side.

Now, this could easily be a situation that resembles what happened with Emeka Egbuka leading up to his decision. The five-star wideout took a visit to Norman, Oklahoma, with his father the weekend prior to committing to the Buckeyes. This was to essentially make sure he wasn’t making the wrong decision by choosing OSU, and Davis could be doing the same to confirm to himself that USC is indeed the college he wants to attend.

In my personal opinion, however, I don’t believe this is the case.

I was told a couple of months ago that the Buckeyes would elevate themselves to the top spot in Davis’ recruitment if he wound up visiting the school. This was told to me while he was committed to LSU.

Also, Davis wasn’t viewed as a USC lean for over a year, which was the case with Egbuka and Ohio State. There was momentum in their favor toward the backend of his commitment, but it’s not like there’s too much ground to make up here for the Buckeyes.

Even when it looked like a foregone conclusion that USC was going to land Davis, I chose not to FutureCast him to the program because I still gave OSU a shot. This weekend could be a deciding one in his recruitment, but Buckeye fans have reason to be thrilled with this week’s developments.

2. Son of Kevin Wilson to walk on at Ohio State

While all of the attention was on the Davis news that broke on Wednesday, there was another notable development when it came to 2021 recruiting for Ohio State.

Yesterday afternoon, the Buckeyes were rewarded with a commitment from preferred walk-on offer, Toby Wilson. If you recognize that last name, then you’d be pleased to hear that Toby is the son of OSU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

Although Wilson is choosing the PWO route with the Buckeyes, he actually had his fair share of scholarship offers that he earned throughout his recruitment. Wilson, who has earned three-star status on Rivals, possesses over a dozen offers, with one of those recently coming from West Virginia University.

When evaluating the depth chart in Columbus, it would not surprise me if Wilson found himself in a starting role down the line.

Josh Myers recently declared for the NFL Draft, so the 1-2 order at center appears to be Harry Miller and Luke Wypler. Wilson could arrive on campus and earn a spot as a third-stringer with a sophomore and a junior ahead of him.

This could also be viewed as good news for Ohio State fans in terms of the likelihood of Kevin Wilson staying with the team for the next few years. It’s safe to assume Wilson is likely to hang around with the Buckeyes with the opportunity to coach his son for the first time.

That is good news for Ryan Day and company as OSU has been one of the top offenses in all of college football with Wilson at OC, with the team averaging 523.8 yards per game from 2017 to 2019.

Good luck to Toby in his academic and football endeavors at Ohio State in the coming years.

3. Nation’s fourth-ranked safety has been a priority for Ohio State

Defensive back recruiting is a hot topic for Buckeye Nation, and for good reason.

The Buckeyes landed a commitment from the third-ranked cornerback in the 2022 cycle when Jaheim Singletary announced his pledge to the program on Jan. 2.

Now, with uncertainty surrounding a key member of Michigan’s coaching staff and the change at defensive coordinator, Ohio State is in a good position to land Will Johnson. Johnson is the fourth-ranked CB on Rivals in next year’s class.

Looking past cornerback recruiting, however, the Buckeyes are doing well with multiple Rivals100 junior safeties. One of those is obviously Iowa-based Xavier Nwankpa, and the other is Zion Branch.

Branch, who is the No. 43 overall junior on Rivals, is not yet a household name for most Ohio State fans. This makes sense as he really hasn’t posted much pro-OSU content on his social media since reeling in an offer from the program on May. 1, 2020.

This past week, however, Branch unveiled a top 11 on Twitter, with the Buckeyes making the cut. The other schools that landed on his list were Alabama, Arizona State, Clemson, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington.

When speaking with national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney, Branch singled out Arizona State, Ohio State, Oregon, USC and Washington as the ones that are the most active in his recruitment at this time. This is what he had to say when discussing the Buckeyes specifically.

“They had a lot of uncertainties this season,” Branch said. “I had a lot of communication with them and I talk a lot with coach (Kerry) Coombs and coach (Matt) Barnes and coach (Ryan) Day and they’ve been saying that they have really strong faith in their team and they proved a lot of people wrong.”

With the necessary reinforcements that are needed in the secondary, landing Branch and Nwankpa at safety, and adding Johnson and potentially a couple of other cornerback targets would be an incredible haul for Kerry Coombs and company.

1 What are the chances Elias Ricks enters the transfer portal?

I’m a big believer in the phrase, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

And right now, there’s a lot of smoke when it comes to the possibility of Elias Ricks hitting the transfer portal.

The portal can be hit or miss, but that wouldn’t be the case with Ricks. He emerged as a freshman at LSU, recording 20 solo tackles and four interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns.

He would essentially be the equivalent of a five-star addition for Ohio State in the 2021 cycle, and would immediately help those problems the program had in the secondary that I had mentioned in the previous section.

I don’t have much on Ricks as I haven’t heard anything concrete, but our own Kevin Noon did note he heard from someone that the rumors are “baloney.” Even so, he mentioned that he’s heard similar statements made in the past about a prospect’s decision-making process, and I can attest to that as it's tough to put too much stock into those types of remarks.

Adam Gorney and Mike Farrell even wrote an article that mentioned Ricks this week. Their conclusion was that if the rumor is true, Ohio State would be the favorite if Ricks hits the portal, despite USC being his dream school growing up.

With Shaun Wade leaving, adding Ricks, to go alongside incoming freshmen Jakailin Johnson, Jordan Hancock and Denzel Burke, would be huge for Ohio State’s CB room. We’ll have more updates on Ricks’ situation if we hear anything new.

2. Does Ohio State have a shot at Malaki Hamrick?

OSU's staff already holds commitments from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, product Benji Gosnell, but are still pursuing multiple prospects from the state.

More specifically, the Buckeyes have their eyes set on North Carolina-based prospects Jalon Walker and Malaki Hamrick. The program is making an impact in their respective recruitments as Walker has them in his top six, and OSU is one of a handful of finalists for Hamrick.

Unless there is an unexpected change in Walker's recruitment, Hamrick will be the first of these two prospects to commit. The 14th-ranked OLB recently announced on Twitter that he will be committing on Feb. 26.

What's interesting is that even though Hamrick is listed as a linebacker on his Rivals profile, he is actually being recruited by the Buckeyes to play defensive end. This is what he had to say to recruiting analyst Adam Friedman last week when discussing his interest in Ohio State and his thoughts on d-line coach Larry Johnson.

“Even though the outcome the other night wasn't great for them, they still just played for a National Championship,” Hamrick said. “It's the biggest stage. Coach Johnson knows a little something about the defensive line. He's put a whole lot of athletes in the NFL... They've showed a lot of interest. I've always enjoyed watching Ohio State football. We have a pretty strong relationship and they told me I could be the next Chase Young.”

To answer the question above, it would be hard for me to see Hamrick committing to Ohio State without him visiting the school. He's been high on the program since receiving an offer from the staff on Aug. 24, but the Tar Heels appear to have the inside track here.

They're the only in-state school, along with Appalachian State, in his top five, and his family members are huge fans of UNC's football team. Rivals recruiting reporter Nikki Chavanelle also recently submitted a FutureCast in favor of the Tar Heels after Hamrick announced his decision date.

We'll be following Hamrick's recruitment closely over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for any further updates on the Rivals250 target.

Is this really a bold prediction?

After all, the floodgates have opened up recently when it comes to college players entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. Also, Ohio State only signed 21 scholarship players in the 2021 cycle last month, and will have a few more additional spots to take on a transfer or two if they so desired.

Given the number of players in the portal and OSU's space to take on more players, I could see them landing at least one of these people.

Could it be Jalen Green, a former University of Texas cornerback who previously had Ohio State in his top five prior to committing to the Longhorns?

Could it be Palaie Gaoteote, who recently liked an edit by @buckeyeedit15 on Instagram of him in an Ohio State uniform?

We also mentioned Ricks, and OSU would be one of, if not the top, options for him if he opted to hit the portal.

There will plenty of opportunities for Ohio State to go down the untraditional route of recruiting, and I see it as more likely than not that they'll land one of their targets.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.