Akron/Canton football recruiting news: SEC's Kentucky, Tennessee make Northeast Ohio visits

April showers bring in May flowers. Or, so the saying goes.

In college football recruiting, what May brings is scholarship offers. Lots and lots of offers.

With all of the various college's spring practices now concluded, May is a heavy time of year for coaches to hit the road recruiting. It's also a time where a lot of players who may not have had offers, or not many of them, start to really see them come in as coaches get to see them in person.

That has certainly been the case this week for a variety of football players in the Akron/Canton area. It's not just those who will be Class of 2023 seniors, either.

Here's a look at some of the major happenings on the recruiting trail for area football players and programs from the last few days.

Kentucky, Tennessee bring SEC presence into Akron/Canton area

Northeast Ohio is the heart of Big Ten country. However, a pair of SEC programs, Kentucky and Tennessee, were active in the area this week.

The Wildcats have made Ohio a major recruiting priority since hiring head coach Mark Stoops and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow – two Youngstown natives – in 2013. They've continued that this week with a number of offers across a variety of classes.

The most prominent of those to receive offers is Tallmadge Class of 2023 athlete Collin Dixon, raising his total of offers to 20. Among the others to receive offers from Kentucky include Hoban Class of 2024 receiver/defensive back Tysen Campbell and Class of 2024 lineman William Satterwhite, as well as Dixon's Class of 2025 teammate, lineman Ameer Yasin.

More College Football Recruiting: Tallmadge star Collin Dixon learns college football recruiting is a full-time gig

Tennessee hasn't necessarily made Ohio a recruiting priority historically, although it does have 70 all-time letterwinners from the Buckeye State. However, with Dublin Scioto and Ohio State graduate Alex Golesh now the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for second-year coach Josh Heupel, the Volunteers have started to make a push northward.

Among the places Tennessee coaches visited this week was Massillon, where Class of 2023 running back Willtrell Hartson would presumably be the main target. Hartson doesn't officially hold an offer from the Volunteers, he did make an unofficial visit to Knoxville earlier in the spring.

More Massllon Football News: Massillon football's Marcus Moore Jr. commits to the University of Akron Zips

Hudson's Tommy Ricard gains trio of offers

One of the top Class of 2024 linemen, Hudson's Tommy Ricard, is starting to feel the love from FBS Division I programs. So far this spring, he has received offers from Michigan State, Toledo and Ball State.

Ricard boasts the kind of size big programs crave. He checks in at 6-foot-3, 265, with still two years of high school to potentially at least add to that frame.

Tallmadge, Hoban, Akron East standouts add to offer totals

Dixon's offer sheets growing quite robust, as FCS Division I Campbell University joined Kentucky in offering him Tuesday. His teammate Yasin also added an Akron offer on Wednesday morning.

Speaking of Campbell — Hoban's Tysen, not the university in South Carolina — the Knights' standout also has a pretty big Big Ten offer to show off. Michigan was the first school to actually offer him this spring.

A pair of Akron East standouts also earned their first FBS offers this week. Class of 2024 defensive back Ibraheem Kamara picked up one from Toledo, while Class of 2025 running back/defensive back Ziaire Stevens did the same from Cincinnati.

Alliance's Kayden Davis, Massillon's Freddie Lenix Jr. garner Division II offers

FBS and FCS Division I schools aren't the only ones allowed to hand out athletic scholarships among NCAA members. Division II programs are making offers, too.

Alliance Class of 2024 running back Kayden Davis earned an offer from Division II Alderson Broaddus University. The school is located in Philippi, West Virginia.

Massillon Class of 2024 running back/cornerback Freddie Lenix Jr. also earned a Division II offer this week, from Mercyhurst University. The school is located in Erie, Pennsylvania.

More College Football Recruiting: Ranking the top 20 Greater Akron/Canton players for 2023-25

College coaches making plenty of stops in Massillon

For a variety of reasons, Massillon has been and will be a popular stop for college coaches during the month of May. Not all of it necessarily to just see Tiger players.

With two Class of 2024 student-athletes already committed in Ardell Banks (Toledo) and Marcus Moore Jr. (Akron), as well as other highly-regarded talents such as Hartson and Lenix, it's natural for colleges to be coming to look at Massillon's own players. Among the schools in for visits recently are Ohio State, Tennessee, UNLV, Cincinnati, Toledo, Kent State, Central Michigan, Appalachian State, Youngstown State, Illinois State and Eastern Illinois.

Many of those schools will be back May 12 to scout individual Tiger players when Massillon conducts its Division I College Showcase. NCAA rules prohibit athletes from other schools to participate in this event, since Division I coaches will be present.

However, no such regulations exist for non-Division I programs, which is why Massillon is hosting a Northeast Ohio College Showcase on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Paul L. David Athletic Training Center. The event, which costs $100 per athlete, is open to any student-athlete to attend.

There will be more than a dozen colleges expected to be in attendance. That list includes Division II or NAIA programs Walsh, Tiffin, Findlay, Ashland, Charleston, West Virginia Wesleyan, Alderson Broaddus, Grand Valley State and Lawrence Tech, all of which are permitted to hand out athletic scholarships of some kind.

Division III programs expected include Mount Union. Wittenberg, Capital, St. Vincent, Ohio Northern and Defiance.

Reach Chris at chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Kentucky, Tennessee football coaches pass through Akron/Canton