The rush is his nightly dose of updates to the Ohio state football recruiting route, which controls the latest in commitments and goals across the country.
More information on Smith’s release
The biggest news of the day came this afternoon when Cincinnati three-star cornerback La Salle, Devonta Smith, announced his release from the state of Ohio.
Respect my decision! #AGTG pic.twitter.com/iQga0LbUlb
– Devonta Smith (@Prince_Tay_) June 25, 2020
In March, Smith detailed Eleven warriors the behind-the-scenes details of how their engagement came about and how Kerry Coombs reacted when she broke the news to fellow Cincinnatian. And two days before his March 16 engagement, Smith told us of the emotions he felt when he received his offer from the state of Ohio and what it meant to commit to his state school.
“We hung up the phone and I cried in front of my boys, man. It was crazy, ”said Smith. “It was a great time, man. It really was a blessing, just knowing that the work I did was worth it. I am finally blessed. I give all the glory to God and my mother for all that she has done. That was just that.
However, Smith’s teammate and best friend, 2021 Ohio State defensive defender / linebacker Jaylen Johnson, told Eleven Warriors that Smith had been “stressed by this decision” for the past four months.
Johnson says he has known about Smith’s decision for a while: “I just hope he does his best. … His life; your choice “.
Let’s clarify the environment in which I could have stayed if I had loved my family and did what was best, do not trust everything you hear …
– Devonta Smith (@Prince_Tay_) June 25, 2020
Ohio’s great class of defensive backs in 2021 played a factor in Smith choosing to retire, as the Buckeyes already have Jakailin Johnson, Andre Turrentine, Denzel Burke and Jantzen Dunn, plus Jaylen Johnson if he includes him as a defensive back, in the fold. And Coombs is still looking to add at least one more to the mix.
Safety Derrick Davis Jr. is by far the primary uncompromising defensive target. Cornerback Tony Grimes will make a decision next week, but the Buckeyes appear to be substantially losing that draft and I don’t think they can gain enough ground in North Carolina and Georgia without receiving another visit from him. Cornerback Jordan Hancock is the other main objective, but getting him out of Clemson will be a very difficult task. Perhaps we will see that other targets within the state are also involved in the mix.
As for Smith, Alabama appears to have been placed in pole position for his engagement, with eight Crystal Ball predictions flying Thursday for the Crimson Tide to land him. Smith told us, before receiving his offer from the state of Ohio and after committing himself, that he had planned to make an unofficial visit to Alabama in the spring and that he also hoped to arrive in Oregon.
After those two programs were offered, the Buckeyes soon followed up with their offer, and it seemed to seal Smith’s decision on the university until he made the official decision to reopen his recruitment on Thursday.
Extended dead period
It’s not exactly a surprise, but it was made official Thursday night that the NCAA has extended the deadline for recruitment to August 31.
The Division I Council has extended the deadline for recruitment: https://t.co/cGExRdbLrl pic.twitter.com/se3BFgg8wY
– Within the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) June 25, 2020
Again, that means there will be no official or unofficial visits in July or August. There was a little bit of optimism that we can start seeing visits allowed in August, although the most likely restart of visits has been September for a while now.
We have continued to see the effect visitation suspensions have had on decision deadlines, such as Jager Burton, who announced Sunday that he would delay his scheduled engagement date of August 24 until he had a chance to make the five official visits. .
We have also seen the recent effects the downtime has had on the state of Ohio, as the inability to have JC Latham, Hudson Wolfe, and Troy Stellato on campus this spring and summer played a role in each of them engaging in another place.
Background on Brown’s engagement
From when he was in elementary school until today, young Jyaire Brown, always on the rise, had always agreed with Ohio State, watching Buckeye games on television at his father and stepmother’s home in New Orleans.
He was always a big advocate for Urban Meyer, and says he’s a big fan of Marshon Lattimore, a similarly-sized cornermate who dropped out of high school (6-foot, 175-pound) compared to Brown (6-foot, 165 pounds). ) and, like Brown, an Ohio native who had moved to New Orleans. Then he looked for Jeff Okudah and now for Justin Fields.
When Brown moved out of his Cincinnati home at age 4, he was moving in with his father and stepmother, but his entire immediate family remained in Ohio, as did his grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. So Brown made a promise to himself when he became a standout player in Louisiana.
“Playing soccer over the years, I’ve always said that I was going to come home so I could play in front of my family because they never had a chance to see me play,” Brown said. Eleven warriors. “Ohio State has always been the school of my dreams, so when I received (the offer), I knew it. And I and Coombs coach developed our relationship, and from there only the curtains remained. ”
I am really cooking. clock! https://t.co/yXaGmJ8jim
– Jyaire Hollywood Brown (@ jyairebrown13) June 24, 2020
When Brown was offered by Ohio State on April 17, the four-star cornerback from Warren Easton High School could barely contain his excitement, telling us that the “unreal” offer “means everything to me and my family” and that it was more shocking than any of their other offers. Bigger than Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and even LSU.
He even started talking as if he had already committed to the Buckeyes, letting it slip that “he can’t wait to play Coach Coombs.”
In his heart, he already knew where his college ball was going to play by the time he received the offer. But still, he received a kick from his older brother, Lonnell Brown Jr., a former standout nickel / slot cornerback at Indiana State and team MVP under Tom Bolden at Colerain High School. Lonnell was not upset with the decision to commit so early. She had hoped her little brother would take longer and be patient with the process.
But Brown didn’t want to wait any longer, and after talking a lot with his father, Lonnell Sr., he knew he had to pull the trigger to make the “school of his dreams” come true.
“I just had in my head that it was my decision, and I talked to my dad and he supported him. That’s all I needed, “said Brown.
He woke up on April 22, just five days after receiving that offer, not knowing that it was going to be the day he got engaged, but he couldn’t wait any longer, becoming the Buckeyes’ first engagement in the 2022 class.
“I had a virtual tour with basically all the staff about facilities, academics, basically everything about school,” Brown says of the day. “It was with almost the entire coaching staff: the day of the coach (Ryan) and everyone. After the visit was over, I was confronted by Coach Coachs. We were talking regularly, and my dad said, ‘Do you want to? Do you want to commit? I was like, ‘Yes’.
“I asked Coach Coombs, ‘Are you making commitments now?’ And he said, “Hell yeah.” I just said, ‘Well, I want to commit,’ and he was excited. I talked to his wife and stuff. It was really cool. ”
Bringing versatility
Less than 12 hours before Brown’s engagement, Kerry Coombs detailed in a conference call what he and the Buckeyes point to in a defensive draft. The key word when it came to traits on the field was versatility.
“We are looking for guys who can play multiple places,” said Coombs. “I think that’s really important because it gives you a lot of opportunities to play against more players and play them in different situations.”
Perhaps therein lies the main reason Brown’s compromise was accepted. Ranked in the top 125 overall in the 2022 class and top 20 in position, Brown brings physicality on the outside and lateral quickness on the inside.
“I think it is my ability to be very versatile,” said Brown when asked why Coombs was so excited about his commitment. “I can play in the slot as a five-cent corner, and I can also play as an outside corner. I have the leg set to be in the slot to cover the smallest and fastest receivers, and that helps me when I go outside and cover the highest receivers and not the slowest, but not so fast. ”
Moving to Ohio; life since commission
We’ll get into this more on Saturday, but Brown recently transferred from Warren Easton to Lakota West High School, so his return home will take place two years earlier than originally planned.
First, however, you have to make the move. He spent about a month and a half in Cincinnati in May and June, but is now back in New Orleans preparing for a move. A bit of relaxation and fun is the first step, with a pool farewell party planned for Friday before he moves to Cincinnati starting Sunday.
True trappers can adapt to the dry season! #MG #CMU @ jyairebrown13 pic.twitter.com/mRGllxWMhS
– Ernest Harvey Jr. (@campmoula_MG) June 22, 2020
She will move in with her brother first, as her father and stepmother worked out final plans to move to a new place, with a chance of being a neighborhood about five minutes from Lakota West. Close enough that you can go back to school every day.
Despite a busy and sometimes hectic movement, Brown says life has been “comfortable” and “smooth” since he made his commitment.
“I’ve just kept working and doing what I had to do to get there. Just working every day, “said Brown.
As for recruiting, he says, “it’s slowing down a bit, but it’s still there,” as he speaks “occasionally” to schools like Tennessee, Mississippi State, Texas, Penn State and TCU.
When it comes to recruiting, he says he wants to keep options open in case something funky happens in the future.
“My mentality is that I’m going to keep listening to what they have to say and remain open-minded because if I have two years of high school left, anything can happen, so I just listen to what they have to say,” Brown said. “But Ohio State, I agree with them. At the end of the day, I will continue to be a Buckeye. ”
Mark Pantoni, the Buckeyes’ director of player personnel, has said that one of the Ohio State’s primary goals in recruiting is to recruit his committed players as if they were not yet engaged. Brown says he feels that approach since April.
“I talk to them almost every other day,” said Brown. “They are definitely still busy recruiting me.”
Fans have been too.
“I get nothing but love from Ohio State fans,” said Brown. “They are one of the best fan bases in the nation.”
Jyaire Brown Photo: Scott Springer / The Cincinnati Enquirer
