Buckeyes offer 'surreal' for Jantzen Dunn, Jack Pugh evaluates visit

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. Thursday’s notebook has updates from Ohio State’s two midweek visitors and looks ahead to a big Friday visit from Donovan Edwards.

Ohio State offer ‘surreal’ for Kentucky star Jantzen Dunn

A few months after his first visit to Ohio State, Bowling Green (Ky.) 4-star athlete Jantzen Dunn and his family returned to Columbus for another in-person meeting with the program.

He left with an Ohio State offer, And that made the trip and the wait from his November visit worthwhile.

“It felt great, they have been speaking with Jantzen for a few months now,” Dunn’s father, Mitchell, told Lettermen Row. “Today we got a better understanding of what Ohio State offers its student-athletes. The offer was well worth the wait. It was a great visit. They have an incredible program.”

Dunn, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound defensive back prospect, was initially recruited by Matt Barnes. But Jeff Hafley’s departure meant there was a need to get to know Kerry Coombs a bit. That happened on Wednesday, but it was Ohio State coach Ryan Day who offered Dunn, Kentucky’s No. 2-ranked 2021 prospect. The excitement about the offer was hard to contain.

“It was definitely a surreal moment,” Mitchell Dunn said. “Jantzen has received some great offers and is extremely appreciative [of them], but he still couldn’t contain his excitement once Coach Day offered. He really wanted this offer after attending the game in November.”

The Buckeyes are certainly a team to watch closely in the recruitment of Dunn from here on out, and a return to campus is in the cards already — though the date is unknown. What is known is that Ohio State left a major impression on the Dunn family.

“I felt like Ohio State isn’t just about having great athletes, they are about having great athletes with great character.” the elder Dunn said. “My son would get an incredible education, and they put you in position to take care of yourself post-football.

“We aren’t sure on our return date, but we do plan on returning.”

Jack Pugh visit notes, plan for Buckeyes offer is clear

As one of only two visitors to Ohio State on Wednesday, it’s obvious that the Buckeyes wanted to spend some quality time getting to know local tight end prospect Jack Pugh.

Mission accomplished.

“[Jack] was at Ohio State for about six hours,” Dan Pugh, Jack’s father, told Lettermen Row. “We watched practice and had a nice sitdown with [tight ends] coach [Kevin] Wilson and [Ryan] Day.”

The message for the country’s No. 13-ranked tight end from the Buckeyes coaching staff was simple.

“The primary message was that they had a lot of interest in Jack,” his father said. “However, they take a more in-depth approach with the tight end position and want to see Jack go through routes in person. They said they want to work him out after spring ball.

“At the end of the day, not everyone will agree with Ohio State’s approach, but at least they were honest with us today. They have Jack a path to an offer if he wants it.”

That path is very similar to the one taken by Joe Royer last summer. Royer took it. It’s unclear right now as to whether or not the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Pugh will. There are some big visits upcoming that may ultimately tell the tale.

“Jack has upcoming visits to Michigan this Saturday, Penn State on March 21 and Alabama on March 27,” Dan Pugh said. “After that he will most likely have a better idea of what he wants to do.”

Friday is ‘D-Day’ for Ohio State running back recruiting

Donovan Edwards, one of the Buckeyes top running back targets in the Class of 2021, will arrive in Columbus late Thursday evening, according to his coach, Ronald Bellamy.

“Hopefully,” Bellamy told Lettermen Row of the travel plans. “We’ll be arriving around 9 p.m.”

With Edwards and Bellamy will be 2022 athlete Dillon Tatum, who was introduced to Lettermen Row readers just about a week ago. That trio will spend Friday checking out Ohio State’s practice and then getting the red-carpet treatment from Ryan Day, Tony Alford and the rest of the Buckeyes coaching staff and administration.

It’s a key visit for Ohio State who will be no doubt looking to see exactly where it stands with Edwards ahead of upcoming visits from Evan Pryor and TreVeyon Henderson, among others.

Need more Ohio State recruiting #Stuff? Join the conversation below in the comments and sign up for Scarlet Sunrise, Lettermen Row’s morning newsletter that will get your day started with all the important Ohio State news you need to know. Prefer video? Follow Buckeyes football on YouTube with Lettermen Row. You can also get your recruiting fix by subscribing to Talking Stuff: The Ohio State Recruiting Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher.