Recruiting Outlook: Jordan Hancock’s Clemson Decommitment Puts Ohio State In The Driver’s Seat

Recruiting Outlook is a new weekly series on Buckeye Sports Bulletin designed to be your one-stop shop for all news related to the Ohio State football recruiting trail.

• Philadelphia (Pa.) St Joseph’s five-star quarterback Kyle McCord received a rankings bump following his performance at the Elite 11 Finals. McCord moved up from No. 52 to No. 43 in the 247Sports rankings, which boosted him from No. 24 to No. 22 in the 247Sports composite rankings.
• Ohio State 2021 five-star running back commit TreVeyon Henderson, 2021 four-star wide receiver commit Marvin Harrison Jr., and 2021 five-star wide receiver target Emeka Egbuka were named preseason first-team All-Americans by Max Preps.
• Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy 2022 four-star running back Kaytron Allen was named a junior preseason first-team All-American by Max Preps.
• St. Louis Cardinal Ritter College Prep 2022 wide receiver Luther Burden was named a junior first-team All-American by Max Preps, while Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wide receiver C.J. Williams was on the second team.
• Fort Worth (Texas) Nolan Catholic 2022 four-star Emeka Megwa and Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian 2022 four-star running back Gavin Sawchuk were both named junior preseason second-team All-Americans by Max Preps.
• West Bloomfield, Mich., 2022 four-star running back Dillon Tatum said he’s been impressed with Michigan’s recent recruiting success on offense: “I feel like they have recruited on the offensive side of the ball really well by getting speed & guys that can do multiple things.” 
• Houston (Texas) Klein Cain 2022 four-star running back Jaydon Blue received offers from Stanford, Texas Tech and Michigan. 
• Grandview, Texas, four-star tight end Dametrious “Meaty” Crownover trimmed his list of more than two dozen scholarship offers to five schools on July 12, listing Ohio State alongside Baylor, Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M.
• Clarkston, Mich., four-star offensive guard Rocco Spindler announced he will make his college decision on Aug. 8. He’ll choose among finalists LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State.
• Streetsboro, Ohio four-star defensive tackle Mike Hall, became the eighth member of Ohio State’s 2021 class to commit to the Adidas All-American Game.
• Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas four-star defensive end Tyreak Sapp listed Ohio State in his top five schools, along with Alabama, Georgia Tech, Florida and Miami (Fla.). Sapp, who has been committed to the Gators since Dec. 24, 2018, is ranked as the seventh-best strongside defensive end and No. 96 prospect overall in the 2021 class.
• Belleville, Mich., five-star defensive tackle Damon Payne, the top tackle and No. 15 prospect overall in 2021, announced he would be committing on July 26. He will will choose among finalists Alabama, Arizona State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and USC, though the Crimson Tide are the favorites to earn the commitment.
• On the defensive line, Pickerington (Ohio) North five-star defensive end Jack Sawyer, an Ohio State commit, was selected to the MaxPreps All-American Team. He was also joined by Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic five-star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, who is currently favored to commit to the Buckeyes. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Tunmise Adeleye was listed on the MaxPreps All-American second team.
• Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter four-star linebacker C.J. Hicks, one of Ohio State’s three commitments in the 2022 class, accepted an invitation to the Under Armour All-America Game. Hicks was also recently changed from athlete to outside linebacker on 247Sports.
• During an Instagram Live, Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinett four-star linebacker Barrett Carter, a current Clemson commit and high school teammate to recent Clemson decommit Jordan Hancock, was talking to Ohio State commit, five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson. There, Henderson said “Barrett get ready for the convo,” which Carter replied “I’m ready trey what’s up.” Carter previously had Ohio State listed among his top five schools before selecting the Tigers on May 19.
• Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway four-star safety Derrick Davis included Ohio State in his top seven alongside Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Pittsburgh and USC.
• Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett four-star cornerback Jordan Hancock decommitted from Clemson on July 14. Ohio State has since picked up seven 247Sports crystal ball predictions.

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