Ohio State has its tight end secured in the 2022 class.
At least one of them, anyway.
Three-star Allatoona (Ga.) High School tight end Bennett Christian has committed to Ohio State, he announced via Instagram Live, choosing the Buckeyes over the other two schools (Tennessee and Penn State) in his final three, though this one came down to Ohio State and Tennessee.
C O M M I T T E D edit: @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/KwXQG45rRc
— Bennett Christian (@BennettC87) September 2, 2020
The Christian File
- Class: 2022
- Size: 6-foot-6/235 lbs.
- Pos: TE
- School: Allatoona High School (Acworth, Ga.)
- Composite Rating: ★★★
- Composite Rank: 18 TE
Though he waited until Tuesday night to announce his decision, Christian's mind was made up more than two weeks ago. That's when he made his first-ever visit to Ohio State's campus on Aug. 14-15 after he and his father, Bill, made the eight-hour drive up to Columbus from Georgia. That visit sealed the deal, and Christian committed right after the visit wrapped up, he told Eleven Warriors.
“I kind of knew I wanted to go there, but I wanted to see it first before I made my decision,” Christian said. “I got on the phone with Coach (Ryan) Day, with me and my dad. Before that, me and my whole family were like ‘This is your school.’ We were in all agreement that it was Ohio State. I asked my dad if I should do it now, and he said, ‘Let’s go for it, call Coach Day.’ I told him the news, and he was extremely happy. Coach (Kevin) Wilson got on a conference call with us after that, and they loved every second of it.
“Coach Day said tell Coach Wilson because he’ll be jumping out of his skin. They wanted me to commit, but they also didn’t wanna pressure me.”
It didn't take much pressure from the Buckeye staff to get Christian – a 6-foot-6, 235-pound rising junior ranked No. 19 at tight end – on board as the sixth member of its 2022 class.
Really, ever since the Buckeyes offered him on June 2, Christian had Ohio State as his No. 1 school. That offer came in the afternoon and was followed by an offer from Penn State later that evening and an offer from Tennessee the next day. In part because those offers came later than Ohio State's, that put the Buckeyes in the lead early.
| NAME | POSITION | OVERALL RANKING | POSITION RANKING | DATE OF COMMITMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JYAIRE BROWN | CB | 125 | 12 | APRIL 22, 2020 |
| TEGRA TSHABOLA | OT | 124 | 12 | APRIL 23, 2020 |
| C.J. HICKS | OLB | 71 | 3 | MAY 1, 2020 |
| GABE POWERS | OLB | 31 | 1 | AUGUST 1, 2020 |
| DASAN MCCULLOUGH | OLB | 46 | 7 (ATH) | AUGUST 18, 2020 |
| BENNETT CHRISTIAN | TE | 370 | 19 | SEPT. 1, 2020 |
“I think the way that Ohio State recruited me, they pursued me so hard,” Christian said of one of the reasons he chose the Buckeyes. “They talked to me almost every day. We talked all the time. I felt like I was more of a priority there than the others. I’ve been to Tennessee multiple times, but when I was at Ohio State, it felt like home. I loved it. That was the icing on the cake is what I’d call it.”
Ohio State had to wait out a visit Christian took to Tennessee the following weekend after his visit to Columbus, but not really. That visit was merely a formality, as Christian was already in the fold as a Buckeye before taking that visit to Knoxville. That's how eye-opening his trip to Ohio State was.
“I just had a feeling. Everything on campus I loved. I absolutely loved it. I can’t explain it. It was just that everything I wanted in a college was there,” Christian said. “I was expecting it to be more like Georgia Tech, but when I saw it, there was a lot of green and rare trees and ponds. I was just amazed. I thought it was just gonna be a bunch of buildings in a city, but that’s not what it was at all. It was awesome. It felt like a college campus and a city. It was the best of those two combinations.”
Header photo credit: Rusty Mansell/247Sports
