Ohio State recruiting: Michigan CB loves Buckeyes, local lineman to return

Stay in touch or be left out because Ohio State recruiting is a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week obsession. What’s the latest news as the Buckeyes build for the future? Get that and more Sunday through Thursday on Lettermen Row. Today’s update introduces the next big thing from Cass Tech in Detroit and updates the recruitment of local lineman Terah Edwards.

Kalen King call Ohio State ‘dream school’

During the early part of Urban Meyer’s time at Ohio State, it seemed the Buckeyes were going to make Detroit powerhouse Cass Tech High School a regular destination when filling out recruiting classes. Since 2015, though, when Mike Weber and Josh Alabi defected from Michigan and opted for life in Columbus, the proverbial sledding has gotten tougher — a point which coincided with Jim Harbaugh arriving in Ann Arbor.

The next Ohio State and Michigan battle for one of the best Detroit prospects could be for 2021 cornerback Kalen King. A 5-foot-11, 170-pound junior-to-be, King already has an offer from the Wolverines but didn’t jump on it immediately when Michigan extended the scholarship opportunity in mid-January.

His unusual and surprising affection for Ohio State could be one of those reasons.

“Ohio State is my dream school and has been since I was very young,” King told Lettermen Row. “I grew up loving Ohio State because I like how they manage their defensive backs. It’s like every year they have two new defensive backs being brought up and two others going to the NFL. I’ve always loved Ohio State, even before the Michigan offer.”

As a Cass Tech football player, King has been afforded many opportunities to travel around the Midwest and check out schools over the last few years, really getting a jumpstart on his recruiting process. He’s been to Columbus multiple times already and is hoping to get back.

“I’ve been going to Friday Night Lights at Ohio State since I was in the eighth grade, and I fell in love with the university,” he said. “But my recruitment really started to pick up after this season. I haven’t been [to Ohio State] this spring, but I want to visit more.”

If that’s going to happen, the new Buckeyes coaching staff will need to find some time to evaluate King. To this point, that hasn’t happened. Former defensive backs coach Taver Johnson and Kerry Coombs before him handled the majority of the recruiting at Cass Tech.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the new staff yet,” he said. “But an offer from them would make them one of my top schools automatically.”

The Buckeyes are always looking for ways to strike inside of Michigan, and it seems the door is still open at Cass Tech.

Ohio State will host Terah Edwards again

The Buckeyes welcomed in defensive tackle prospect Terah Edwards for a visit during their first spring practice, and the 6-foot-4, 310-pound two-way lineman is already set to return to see them again.

“I’ve been talking with [defensive line coach Larry] Johnson, and he asked me when I was coming back up,” Edwards shared with Lettermen Row. “I originally planned for next Friday, but I’m going this Saturday.”

This plan for this weekend had been for Ohio’s 39th-ranked prospect to visit Penn State. That changed because of some family matters that will keep him closer to home.

“My biological dad will be in town from New York, so I told Penn State I wasn’t going to be able to make it up there,” he said. “I’m going to be at Michigan on Sunday, so after the Ohio State visit I’ll be with my dad all of Saturday.”

While he’s at Ohio State, though, Edwards will be with Johnson. And he’s excited for the chance to spend some time with the defensive line guru.

“I’ve had a few conversations with him since I visited,” he said. “He told me he’s already broken down my film and that we’ll go over it once I get back up there. To know he has all my film cut up and everything good and bad about it, that’s pretty cool.”

Edwards has 21 offers to this point. Could Ohio State be next?

Explosive Texas athlete working on Ohio State trip

Way back in August, Lettermen Row first introduced our readers to a Texas standout named Landyn Watson, a 2021 defensive end from Hutto High School. A 6-foot-5, 230-pound sophomore, Watson shared his early interest in Ohio State and how his relationship with Garrett Wilson had helped turn him on to the Buckeyes.

“My friend Garrett Wilson told me a lot about it, the environment and the success in their program, how many athletes they are putting in the NFL,” he said then. “I talk to Garrett a lot. We are pretty close.”

Now that Wilson is already turning heads as a Buckeyes freshman, the conversations with Watson have taken on more weight.

“Garrett absolutely loves it at Ohio State,” Watson said Thursday. “He says I’ll fall in love with it as well. I will possibly be visiting there this spring. Maybe May 4.”

Watson has offers from nearly 15 schools and is getting ready to embark on a busy month of April that will likely define his recruitment for the next year or so.

I WILL Be Visiting These Schools:

THE University of Alabama 3/30 #RollTide🐘🥊

Clemson University 4/6 #ALLIN 🐅

THE University of Arizona 4/13 #BearDown 🐻⬇️

Oklahoma State University 4/20 #GoPokes🤠 🔶

— Landyn Watson (@landynwatson) March 20, 2019

Ohio State has begun chatting him up a bit, and the feedback from defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and Larry Johnson has been positive.

“They said they really like my tape and that I have a good motor,” the Wisconsin native said. “They think I look quick and athletic. They were saying they wanted me to get on campus so coaches can see me in person and so I can see the campus and they can go from there with an offer.”

Thursday finds three local visitors to Ohio State 

When you walk into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center at the conclusion of an Ohio State practice, it’s hard to identify anyone in the mass of people swirling around the indoor field. But I was able to take note of three local players who were checking out the Buckeyes handiwork on Thursday morning.

The first was Ohio State 2021 commitment Jack Sawyer, who earlier this week told Lettermen Row he planned to be on campus “all week.” There’s no doubt he was there in a learning and recruiting capacity. The 5-star Buckeyes verbal was spotted with Pickerington Central 2020 standout Ty Hamilton, the younger brother of Ohio State senior DaVon Hamilton. There is no current offer to the younger Hamilton, but the 6-foot-3, 250-pound defensive linemen looks like he’s really filling out nicely and could be a young guy to watch heading into the summer.

Also on campus was Buckeyes 2020 offer Michael Drennen from nearby Dublin Coffman High School. I continue to be perplexed by exactly where Drennen fits into the Ohio State recruiting class, but he looked very comfortable with Tony Alford and it’s clear that pair have a good relationship that extends beyond just recruit and coach.

This is a big recruiting weekend for the Buckeyes and Lettermen Row will have more on the most important visitors to watch on Friday afternoon.