Scarlet Sunrise: Why Darvon Hubbard's decommitment from Ohio State was expected

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise! Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more.

Darvon Hubbard decommits

Ohio State running back commit Darvon Hubbard backed off his pledge on Thursday. For a lot of recruiting insiders — and for fans who follow their work — the decommitment wasn’t a big surprise. Lettermen Row recruiting czar Birm explained why on Thursday night:

As we’ve written here repeatedly: Hubbard’s recruitment has been up in the air since early December at least. He cited the recent coaching changes in Columbus as the driving force in this decision, and there’s no doubt that things changed when Urban Meyer retired, but I’m reluctant to put the entire weight of this choice on that departure.

Let’s call this a mutual parting of ways, but recognize that occasionally that happens because one side has no real choice but to acknowledge what’s imminent. It is in the best interest of the player in this case to re-open his recruitment on his terms and timeline or risk missing out on key relationship-building time with other college coaches.

There had been minimal contact between Hubbard and the Buckeyes for months prior to Meyer’s retirement, and that continued after the legendary coach’s departure as well. A former teammate of Ohio State quarterback commit Jack Miller at Scottsdale’s Chaparral High School, Hubbard left the Firebirds midseason and transferred to Willow Canyon High School in early November after his family moved across the Valley of the Sun.

For all the latest on Ohio State recruiting, check out the Thursday edition of Dotting the ‘Eyes.

Lettermen Live: Justin Fields impact

This week on Lettermen Live presented by Byers Auto, Beanie Wells and Boom Herron join Austin Ward in-studio to break down Ohio State position battles heading into spring practice. They also touch on Justin Fields and how important he is for the Buckeyes in 2019. Finally, Birm joins to discuss the latest in recruiting including the status of Darvon Hubbard, junior days and Brian Hartline’s recruiting success.

WATCH: Beanie Wells and Boom Herron discuss the impact of Justin Fields

How good is Ohio State’s WR recruiting?

In the Ohio State recruiting question of the day on Thursday, Birm tackled an interesting subject: Could Ohio State actually end up turning down a 5-star wide receiver if too many want to play in Columbus? Birm weighs in with the verdict below. (Spoiler alert: NO)

The Buckeyes have surged in the recruitment of Julian Fleming, Rakim Jarrett and Marcus Rosemy, three 5-star receivers in the Class of 2020. To address this, let’s state first what should be obvious: it’s going to require one hell of a recruiting job by Brian Hartline, Ryan Day and the rest of the Buckeyes coaching staff for this sort of fantasy class to ever come to fruition. If somehow that did happen? There’s not any world where Ohio State would tell any one of those future NFL players “Thanks, but no thanks.”

But there are a lot of moving pieces in recruiting that can’t really be counted on. Having great relationships right now is great, but Ohio State is still forced to show these three young stars that the program isn’t going to take any steps backwards under Ryan Day and that’s something that only happens when college visits are made and when there’s actual football being played. And there’s no doubt that Jarrett and Rosemy would likely still take visits elsewhere, because it’s 2019 and this is the world of recruiting. It’s the wild, wild west in Florida every year and the Baltimore/D.C. area is taking on a bit of that same personality right now.

So would Ohio State “say no” to a 5-star wide receiver in 2020 even if saying yes meant they’d take five players at the position? No, no they wouldn’t. But they’re not likely to have to, either.

Big test for basketball on Saturday

Ohio State basketball will get another chance to make a statement when the Buckeyes travel to College Park to take on No. 24 Maryland on Saturday. The Buckeyes are coming off a victory in a must-win game against Northwestern. They’re still in the NCAA Tournament picture, and they will be even with a loss to the Terrapins, but the formula for a tournament bid requires at least one and possibly two more wins down the stretch against non-Northwestern teams, and there are only a few such opportunities left.

Counting down

• Ohio State hoops at Maryland: 1 day
• Oho State spring game: 50 days

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