Midwest Spotlight: Latest news on region's biggest names

It was a busy weekend in Midwest recruiting, and with the early signing period just seven weeks away the action promises to stay intense. This week we look at the latest recruiting news on some of the biggest names in the region.

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Rivals100 offensive tackle Brey Walker surprised many when he announced during his U.S. Army All-American Bowl jersey presentation last month that he would take additional official visits. He committed to his home-state Oklahoma Sooners early in his sophomore year and officially visited Norman during the first weekend of the college football season.

Walker’s second official visit, though, followed very closely after that jersey presentation when he went to Florida State the weekend of Sept. 22. Offensive line coach Rick Trickett and the experience he brings to the position was a major attraction for Walker and his family in Tallahassee, and his father reported recently that it “was a great visit.” The FSU coaches understood Walker was a long-time commitment to Oklahoma and just asked him to keep an open mind, which he did.

No further trips have been scheduled while Walker finishes up his senior season, but he does plan to take advantage of his three remaining official visits. According to his father, Corwin Walker, the schools being most strongly considered for those remaining official visits are Michigan, Michigan State, Texas A&M and UCLA. Earlier in the fall, LSU was mentioned as a possibility, but the Tigers are no longer likely to receive an official visit. Walker plans to bypass the early signing period in December and sign in the regular period that opens in February. He will play in both the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Polynesian Bowl in January.

Sunday saw several Power Five commitments from Midwest-area prospects, including two from Rivals250 prospects. Let’s start with Oklahoma landing St. Louis (Mo.) Lutheran North four-star defensive end Ronnie Perkins. This was a recruitment expected to go out into the winter with a future official visit set to Michigan on Dec. 8 and two additional spots for which Georgia, Miami and USC were top contenders. The Sooners were considered an early team to beat before Bob Stoops stepped down, and they maintained momentum into the Lincoln Riley era. Watch, however, to see when Perkins signs his letter of intent. Lutheran North head coach Carl Reed is not a fan of the early signing period and would prefer his players wait until the traditional February period to sign.

Alabama’s flip of former Michigan commit Emil Ekiyor was less surprising, as this recruitment had been trending that direction since a Sept. 29 weekend official visit. There were periods of communication dropping off between Ekiyor and Michigan during the year he was committed to the Wolverines and rumors of Michigan cooling that plagued this recruitment. Alabama took advantage, swooped in and grabbed itself a versatile interior lineman to help kick-start the stretch run of 2018 recruiting.

Michigan was able to strike back on the commitment trail, though, landing Eureka, Mo., running back Hassan Haskins, who has been a breakout prospect as a senior. We saw Haskins very early in his career and thought there was a chance he could develop into something, but it took until this season before he made schools take notice.

Former Notre Dame commit Kalon Gervin continues to make headway toward his final decision. Earlier this month he came out with a final six schools, which eliminated the Fighting Irish even though he made an unofficial visit to South Bend in September. Only one official visit has been taken and that was to Oklahoma the weekend of Sept. 19. Communication with the Sooners remains strong, with Gervin saying they speak almost daily.

The next official visit for Gervin will go to Nebraska and is set for this coming weekend when the Cornhuskers are at home to face Northwestern. An official visit has also been planned to Oregon for the weekend of Nov. 17. From here, though, is where things get interesting. Michigan State and Virginia Tech are considered among the strongest contenders for Gervin, but those official visits have not been scheduled and time is running out because a decision date has been set for Dec. 2. Official visits to those schools will be set, according to Gervin, and he is open to taking them in December after he announces his commitment. A mid-year enrollee, Gervin will be signing in the early signing period.

Interestingly, Florida was part of that final six Gervin announced earlier this month and the Gators were in conversations with the Detroit native about scheduling an official visit when Jim McElwain’s dismissal was announced. There are schools, such as Pittsburgh, that continue to push to get in with Gervin, but this looks to be a five-horse race right now.

Rivals100 defensive tackle Trevor Trout of St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade eliminated his home-state Missouri Tigers from his list of favorites on Sunday. Still remaining are Alabama, Georgia, Miami, UCLA and USC. Trout has already made an official visit to UCLA and will start scheduling further official visits now that his senior season has concluded.

There’s a big game going on in St. Louis this weekend when Lutheran North hosts Trinity Catholic in the MSHSAA District Finals. The game will feature an impressive 18 prospects who hold Power Five offers, including 2018 four-star Ronnie Perkins and Rivals100 class of 2019 prospects Isaiah Williams and Marcus Washington.

One of the more intriguing prospects in that St. Louis-area showdown is Lutheran North 2019 offensive lineman Jack Buford, who has grown and is reportedly nearing 6-foot-6, 305 pounds now. Florida, Illinois, Iowa State, Kentucky and Missouri have all offered Buford since the start of September and Lutheran North head coach Carl Reed said, “he’ll be a national recruit, like Ronnie (Perkins).” Also like Perkins, Buford is expected to take his recruitment into senior year.

One of the biggest performances of the past weekend, if not the entire high school football season, was Oklahoma commit Tavion Thomas rushing for 301 yards and seven touchdowns in his final regular season game for Dayton (Ohio) Dunbar High in a 46-0 win over rival Thurgood Marshall High.

Four-star Cincinnati (Ohio) Winton Woods linebacker Chris Oats will take the second of three consecutive official visits this weekend to Michigan State, which was the first school to offer him early in his high school career. Oats did not end up making a planned official visit this past weekend to Ohio State due to a conflict with the ACT test and may not reschedule. He is still scheduled to take an official visit to Oklahoma on Nov. 11. Those three schools make up his finalists, but a decision may not come until the winter and Oats expects to sign in February.

Duke became the first Power Five offer for Muskegon (Mich.) Mona Shores 2019 wide receiver Damari Roberson last week. Roberson held several Mid-American Conference offers, but has missed the majority of his junior season with a knee injury. His teammate and classmate, linebacker Jacob Wahlberg, is also starting to draw Power Five attention after early MAC offers.