Recruiting Roundup: Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Pittsburgh competing for some of area’s best

He is ranked 280 overall and 13th in the country among running backs.

The most recent program to offer Thomas is Florida Atlantic, but he also got new offers recently from Arkansas and Texas, among others.

Thomas already had offers from Ohio State, Alabama and USC, and he visited Columbus for a spring practice last month.

His teammate, four-star receiver Joseph Scates, is also a hot commodity.

Scates told SBNation this week his dream school is Alabama, one of five schools at the top of his mind right now along with Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers and West Virginia…

Dunbar linebacker Antwuan Johnson is a Division I prospect, too.

The battle for best running back in Montgomery County could be pretty fierce this fall as Thomas will surely not want to take a backseat to Trotwood-Madison's Raveion Hargrove.

Hargrove has been making headlines locally for two years, but his ascent in the recruiting world has been slowed by his size (5-7, 165).

He was recently named one of the MVPs at The Opening camp in Cleveland, though, and more college coaches are starting to take notice of the runner with electrifying open-field moves.

Hargrove told Rivals he is planning to visit Pittsburgh this weekend for the Panthers spring game. That could result in his first offer from a Power 5 conference school…

Pitt is also reportedly making a strong push for Xavier Peters, a 247sports four-star linebacker from Lakota West. 

Peters has blown up on the recruiting scene since February, totaling more than 20 offers.

He visited Alabama this week with teammate Tyler Bentley, and the duo also hit up Tennessee – where Kettering native and former Michigan coach Brady Hoke is the defensive line coach…

One major prospect from the area went off the market since our last update as John Dirksen of Marion Local verbally committed to Notre Dame. 

Dirksen is a three-star 247sports tackle prospect ranked the No. 18 player in the state while Scout rates him a four-star guard.

Per 247, he also holds offers from Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan State and Northwestern…

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

Of course one of these roundups wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory Jackson Carman update. 

If you haven’t been following along, Carman is the consensus top prospect in the state.

A five-star offensive tackle from Fairfield, he is certainly someone Ohio State would love to have anchoring the line in the future.

RELATED: Fairfield DE releases his top six schools

Carman shook up the recruiting world recently, though, when he named Clemson his leader after visiting the defending national champions.

If you want to know what kind of prospect Carman is, well, he can call recruiting machine Alabama “kind of tied for No. 3.”

Carman is scheduled to be among the many prospects in Columbus this weekend for Ohio State’s spring game.

Expect LandOf10 and this news outlet to be on top of it.

You can find the above mentioned developments and many more updates from prospects throughout the area here:

And as always: If you have recruiting updates to share, reach out to us! This reporter can be reached at Marcus.hartman@coxinc.com.