There's a long post that I will use to track commitments, decommitments, and other events, but here is where I run down the cycle and offer predictions. Frankly, we are going to see what the future holds early on. I remain pessimistic about the staff remaining in place beyond 2024, for a variety of reasons. But a lot of cold water could be thrown on Myers' hot seat if the Buckeyes manage to keep Ohio kids home.
To this point, that hasn't happened. But players like Khalif Hocker, Preston Hawkins, and Zeke Merchant could turn those fortunes around in a hurry. And, fortunately, all three ply their trade in Ohio's borders. Hocker and Hawkins are both national prospects, despite not playing for traditional powers. And Hocker might be the first Ohio 5-star player.
All of this means that this staff has a serious need to close hard on Ohio players. Cincinnati has not been kind to the Buckeyes when it comes to recruiting. Most good players leave for bigger names, or play different sports (*insert Sam Hubbard reference here*). This will only get worse with Notre Dame being a title winner.
Preston Hawkins is a Columbus-area player, which has generally meant that the Buckeyes will manage to close. Though not always. Shea Keethler went to Maryland and won a title as a benchwarmer from Upper Arlington. Hawkins is also going to have to contend with being second fiddle to Caleb Fyock, assuming Fyock progresses into the college stud he is projected to be. Two years is a long time to wait your turn in college lacrosse.
Other, more prominent names dot the board for Ohio State, but essentially there is zero chance that they come to Columbus with the high tuition costs for out of state players and the lack of success the team has had for the past 6 years. Unless NIL goes bananas for the lacrosse Bucks, 2025 is going to be a lean year for national prospects.
Part of that will likely be the result of this year's roster construction. The Buckeyes turned over half the roster with new transfers and freshmen. It's pretty telling when essentially all of the upperclassmen have performed so poorly that the staff has to import a whole new senior class to right the ship. Notre Dame and Maryland won titles taking a couple top 10 transfers (Chris Fake, Jonathan Donville), but no one has seen success with huge influxes of transfer talent. The other Big Ten program doing this is Rutgers, and never has a program regressed so terribly as the Scarlet Knights.
High school players, at the top end, want to win. That's why Virginia has such a backlog, and so does Maryland. These programs recruit, develop, and win title after title with their high school talent. Ohio State has never been good as a team without hitting on insanely talented transfers (Eric Fannell, Ben Randall).
That being the case, how are you going to convince Brendan Millon to come to Columbus when he can walk on at Maryland for less money out of pocket and go to 3 Final Fours? The Buckeyes need to get the staff clicking, fast, to keep this train from derailing. And they will need Hocker, Hawkins, and a surprise stud to get momentum back.
Matt Higgins is an attackman at Boys Latin in Maryland. He would fit the high impact mold nicely. The Lakers also have a STRONG pipeline to Columbus thanks to Travis Crane. IF Higgins were to sign with the Buckeyes, joining Hocker and Hawkins, this is a good to great Ohio State class, historically.
Add a stud midfielder or defenseman, and this is a banner recruiting class. That's a tall order with the proverbial Grim Reaper looking at the staff's employment with a gleam in his eye. But, it's not impossible.
Top end talent always seems to head to the ACC and Ivy League, but the Buckeyes never fail to steal a surprise blue chipper. We will see who signs up for the Scarlet and Gray beginning on Friday.
For now, let's have some fun predictions.
First commit to OSU: Preston Hawkins.
Ohio player, north of Cincy, with national name recognition. Gonna be a Buckeye.
First commitment date: September 18th.
Total commits taken: 11
Players who sign: Preston Hawkins, Zeke Merchant, Thomas Bagnall, Oliver Skeean, Aidan Diaz Matos, Trent Yelton, Ben Boyer, Jake Wolf, Matthew Beachly, Dylan Sanderson, and Matthew Higgins.
I want to believe. But history says Khalif Hocker is bound west to Notre Dame or Denver. And even with Matthew Higgins in this hypothetical class, it is light on star power.
The good news is, I am rarely even 50% right on these predictions. The bad news is, I could easily go o-fer, with this class ending up like the 2020s. Either way, things are going to get very, very interesting, in a hurry! I can't wait to see how it all shakes out.
Go Bucks!
