Southern Swing 4 underway
Through the years there has not been a feature that has gained more attention than our annual Southern Swing tour. 2016 marks the fourth consecutive year that we have packed our bags and pointed the compass south in search of Ohio State's biggest commits, targets and names that recruiting fans may not be aware of just quite yet.
This year's tour promises to be our biggest and best one yet. We are going to be on the road more days than we ever have before and we are going to log more miles than we ever have before. Add to that a surprise or two along the way and this promises to be a Southern Swing to top all of the previous ones.
Every night once we arrive at our new location, we will be updating this page with links to all of our exclusive stories and videos so you can keep track of our travels, even if ou cannot be online with us each step of the way.
Plus it would not be a Southern Swing without Marc's daily Skull Session reports, and those will get going on Monday night after we make our way through the Carolinas.
Not a member yet? Now is the best time of the year to get on board with BuckeyeGrove.com as we bring you information that you can't get anywhere else as well as exclusive videos from the road including spring practice footage from some of the top programs in the South. Take advantage of our special offer by signing up here and use Promo Code: BGSwing and get free access through August 1st, 2016. That will also get you access to our annual Rivals Camp Series Five-Star Challenge in June coverage as well as much, much more leading up to the start of the 2016 Ohio State football season.
So without further delay, let's get on the road and start this Southern Swing. Be sure to check back here often get all of the latest updates from the road.
The tour is coming to an end with a travel day on the front end (to get to North Carolina) and a long travel day planned on the back end to get back to Ohio. We are going to wrap up in Texas however and there is no shortage of big stories coming.
Sometimes our schedule on the Southern Swing changes while we are on the trip. We decided to stay an extra night in Houston before heading to Dallas but still made a trip out west to La Grange to talk to Ohio State commit JK Dobbins. Our time in the Lone Star state continues as we head north on I-45 toward the Metroplex and make our way into the back half of week two of our journey.
Our first day in Texas had us traveling around the greater Houston area and as we dodged heavy rain and toll roads, we made a stop with a familiar face from the coaching past to see how things are going with his own program.
Southern Swing rolls on as we head west. We make a big turn toward Mississippi to talk to Cam Akers and then on to our next destination beyond that.
* Cam Akers loves the Ohio State RB pedigree
* Skull Session: Wrapping up the Southern Swing (or are we?)
We will still have plenty of coverage and stories to come today as we are in the midst of a travel day.
There are few schools in the nation with as many top prospects as IMG Academy in Bradenton (Fla.) so we have devoted a whole day to checking out a practice and talking to several players high on Ohio State's list. We capped off the night by meeting several Ohio State fans in Tampa at an Ohio State bar.
Day four was a very productive day on the Southern Swing as we hit South Florida and capped it off with some big news from Ohio State 2017 WR target Trevon Grimes. We started the day by finishing off some stories from the northern part of the state and then hit Deerfield Beach to talk to a WR target that people may not be paying enough attention to.
* Tyreke Johnson taking it all in stride
* Jeudy still giving Buckeyes a serious look
* Grimes not fading on Buckeyes
We are heading to the Sunshine State after finishing up in South Georgia. Catching up with Aubrey Solomon is a big deal with the Rivals100 defensive tackle not giving many interviews. You won't want to miss what he has to say about the Buckeyes. We also put in a lot of car time to make it from Albany (Ga.) all the way down the coast of Florida. We made a stop at Trinity Christian HS in Jacksonville to talk to a pair of 5-star defensive backs, including Ohio State commit Shaun Wade.
* Jones shows off serious arm talent
* Solomon lets his actions speak for him
* Otis Reese not lacking confidence
* Buckeye offer a dream offer for big-time QB
Day two saw us stay within the state of Georgia and make our way down to tiny Franklin (Ga.) to see one of the top quarterbacks of the class of 2018. Ohio State will be keeping very close tabs on Emory Jones and could an offer be coming? Check out what we have to say about Jones as well as some stories that carried over from our day one coverage.
* Pappoe looking for Ohio State offer
* Xavier Thomas a unique talent
Day one took us through the Carolinas and we ended up in Atlanta and had a chance to host a small meet-and-greet with members north of Atlanta. We logged a lot of miles with covering three states and tomorrow will see our travels stay within the state of Georgia.
* Zamir White keeps beating the odds
* Xavier Thomas really looking at Ohio State
Now is the best time to try out BuckeyeGrove.com. We are offering a free trial in conjunction with our Southern Swing to new subscribers. Sign up here and get BuckeyeGrove.com free until the start of Fall Camp. That will cover the entire Southern Swing, Rivals Five-Star Challenge and much, much more including access to The Horseshoe Lounge and nuggets from NevadaBuck. You don't want to miss this limited time offer.