RCS Ohio: Latest recruiting news for trio of five-stars, others

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three five-stars headlined the field at Saturday’s Rivals Camp Series Presented by Under Armour visit to Ohio. Each updated where their recruitments stand heading into the Spring Evaluation Period.

The five-star cornerback from Western Pennsylvania plans to make his decision in December when the winter dead period hits. For now, he is keeping his options open but a few schools have his attention.

In-state programs Penn State and Pittsburgh have built strong relationships with Wade and he has visited both places often. Future visits are being planned Mississippi State, Oklahoma and UCLA.

If there is a team that is rising recently it would be Tennessee, of which Wade said “they are at the top of my list,” though not necessarily the only team there.

The team that looks to be slipping is Ohio State, which many had pegged as the team to beat early in his recruitment.

* Video interview below

Peoples-Jones is coming off a five-school spring break tour. That trip started at Tennessee, a program he has visited several times previous, and ended at Florida State, where he had never been before. In between Peoples-Jones saw Alabama, Auburn and Florida. Each visit enhanced the five-star’s opinion of those schools and specifically said he got a better sense of the Iron Bowl rivalry from visiting the Alabama-based schools.

Peoples-Jones has a top 10 now and he would like to get that down to a top five in the summer, with senior year official visits preceding his college selection.

* Video interview below

The second five-star offensive tackle from the state of Kentucky in as many classes, Wills told us Saturday he remains open to all schools, has no timetable for making his college selection and is just enjoying the recruiting process.

The schools that have maintained the best relationship with him thus far are Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan State and Tennessee. Among the factors Wills is considering as he determines his college future is early playing time, a program that will develop him for the NFL and showing progression on the field next fall.

* Video interview below

Stevens released a top seven last weekend that, in order, consisted of Georgia, LSU, Florida State, Florida, Tennessee, USC and Oklahoma. Georgia sits at No. 1 on his list in large part because of head coach Kirby Smart and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.

Stevens originally committed to LSU before stepping away from that commitment a couple months later, but he remains interested in the Tigers and wants to see the LSU fan base back head coach Les Miles. He has family in Louisiana and will visit Baton Rouge when he travels to see them this summer. His next visit, though, is to Georgia next weekend. A decision is not expected until winter of his senior year.

Maryland picked up two commitments on Saturday, including one from Olney (Md.) Good Counsel linebacker Ayinde Eley whose teammate, four-star defensive end Joshua Paschal, was in Columbus for the Rivals Camp Series.

Paschal has certainly taken notice of hometown and home-region prospects wanting to play for new head coach D.J. Durkin and he is also considering the Terrapins strongly. Paschal’s brother plays for Kentucky and that is a school where he feels comfortable. Texas A&M and Ole Miss are his most recent offers and are two schools, along with Oklahoma, that he plans to visit in the near future.

* Video interview below

Rivals250 running back Jarell White of Cincinnati (Ohio) LaSalle is headed to the defensive side of the football in college. The nation’s No. 12 running back prospect made a decision in the last couple days that he will pursue defense in college.

* Video interview below

Gurnee (Ill.) Warren Township 2018 wide receiver Micah Jones also stopped by Ohio State after Saturday’s camp to talk with wide receivers coach Zach Smith and his area recruiter, Greg Studrawa.

Nashville four-star linebacker Jacob Phillips made a college visit on his way up to Columbus, stopping by Kentucky, where he was the only recruit on campus and said he got a lot of one-on-one attention.

* Video interview below

The next visit for big-time class of 2018 quarterback Phil Jurkovec out of Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine Richland will be to Penn State next weekend for the Nittany Lions' spring game. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound passer holds offers from Penn State and more than a dozen other schools.

* Video interview below

Four-star Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller tight end Matt Dotson has added a visit to Penn State this month to go along with previously planned visits to Michigan and Michigan State the weekend of April 16.