The Hurry-Up: Buckeyes Offer Four Defensive Backs from St. John Bosco, Chase Bisontis Enjoys “Awesome Day” at Ohio State, More Official Visitors Arrive

By Dan Hope on June 18, 2021 at 8:35 am
Peyton Woodyard
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Ohio State made offers to four defensive backs on Thursday, and all of them play at the same high school.

St. John Bosco defensive backs R.J. Jones and Jshawn Frausto-Ramos, who are both in the recruiting class of 2023, and Peyton Woodyard and Marcelles Williams, who are both in the class of 2024, all announced Thursday that they had received offers from Ohio State, one day after all of them participated in the Buckeyes’ fifth high school football camp of the year on Wednesday.

Jones is ranked as the No. 104 overall prospect and No. 8 safety in the class of 2023, while Ramos is ranked as the No. 25 cornerback by 247Sports. Both of them are rated as four-star recruits.

Jones told Eleven Warriors on Thursday that it “means a lot” to receive an offer from Ohio State.

“Everyone knows Ohio State is almost always a national contender, so being offered by them is like them saying I can be one of those guys competing for a national title,” Jones said. “It’s surreal.”

Williams and Woodyard, meanwhile, become just the third and fourth prospects in the class of 2024 to receive offers from Ohio State, joining linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa – who also plays at St. John Bosco and was at Wednesday’s camp – and Florida quarterback Adrian Posse.

Woodyard, who appears to be poised to be one of the top defensive backs in his class at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds with the athleticism to play either cornerback or safety, didn’t necessarily expect to get an offer this week, as Ohio State’s coaches initially told him they don’t typically offer players before their sophomore year. Yet they saw enough on Wednesday to offer him on Thursday, which he said made him “honored” and “humbled.”

“I definitely have interest,” Woodyard said of Ohio State, where he plans to make a return visit later this year. “Coach Coombs wants me to play corner over here, and I like corner. I like the look of playing corner. He’s always put great DBs in the league.”

Ohio State now has offers out to seven total recruits from St. John Bosco, the suburban Los Angeles alma mater of current Ohio State bullet Kourt Williams and former Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis. 2022 four-star offensive lineman Earnest Greene and 2023 four-star defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, who also both made the trip to Ohio State this week, already had offers from the Buckeyes along with Viliamu-Asa.

Greene and Uiagalelei both went through individual workouts with Ohio State coaches during their visits this week, and Greene plans to make an official visit to Ohio State for the Buckeyes’ home opener against Oregon on Sept. 11. Uiagalelei, the younger brother of Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, said “maybe” when asked Wednesday if he would return to Ohio State for a game this fall.

Davis and Williams will likely be among those encouraging all of them to play for the Buckeyes, as Davis hopped on a video chat with Uiagalelei while he was at Ohio State on Wednesday and Williams spent time with the group while they were on campus, which resonated with the players who could now have a chance to follow in his footsteps from St. John Bosco to Ohio State.

“Knowing that a Bosco dude came here and could do it, it gave us motivation that we all could do it,” Jones said. “So I know that it’s possible to come and play football here at the big level.”

Bisontis had “awesome day” at Ohio State

Another high school football powerhouse that was well-represented at Wednesday’s Ohio State camp was New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep, which had three prospects from the 2023 class in Columbus: quarterback Nick Miniccuci, wide receiver Omaree Walker and offensive tackle Chase Bisontis.

While Miniccuci and Walker were both among the top performers at their positions in Wednesday’s camp and have the potential to be risers in the junior class, Bisontis is the Ironmen’s top prospect, ranked as the No. 39 overall prospect and No. 3 offensive tackle in his class. Bisontis, who’s had an offer from Ohio State since December, went through an individual workout led by offensive line coach Greg Studrawa on Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed the experience.

“Coach said I did a great job, and I loved being coached by him today,” Bisontis said. “It was awesome. Just to learn from him and teach me some key notes, it was definitely a great experience.”

Although Bisontis said he hadn’t had a ton of communication with Ohio State’s coaches before Wednesday, he expects those conversations to increase moving forward, and said he will “for sure” return to Ohio State for a game this fall.

“It was an awesome day today,” Bisontis said.

Bisontis said he plans to release a top-10 list of schools following his June visits – he’s also visited Notre Dame, Penn State and Rutgers and will be at Alabama on Friday – and wants to make a commitment before his senior year of high school.

Ultimately, how much of a relationship he’s able to build with Studrawa and the rest of Ohio State’s coaching staff will go a long way toward determining whether he ends up becoming a Buckeye.

“I’m not trying to go to a college and not have a great relationship with the offensive line coach,” Bisontis said.

One factor that could help Ohio State, though, is that it already has several New Jersey natives on its roster to encourage him to become a Buckeye – including defensive end Tyler Friday, who also went to Don Bosco Prep, along with three others who could see expanded roles this season in offensive lineman Luke Wypler, linebacker Cody Simon and bullet Ronnie Hickman.

“They’re all doing great things right now, so it’s awesome,” Bisontis said.

Official visit weekend #3 underway

In case you missed it: J.T. Tuimoloau arrived in Columbus for his official visit on Thursday evening, when he was greeted at John Glenn Columbus International Airport by a cavalry of Ohio State coaches including Ryan Day, Larry Johnson, Al Washington, Kerry Coombs, Matt Barnes and Parker Fleming, and I was on the scene to capture some photos of the five-star defensive end’s arrival.

He’ll be joined by four other official visitors – five-star linebacker commit C.J. Hicks, four-star Tennessee running back Dallan Hayden, four-star Georgia wide receiver Kojo Antwi and three-star Georgia safety Jake Pope – for what will be the smallest yet arguably the most important of Ohio State’s official visit weekends this month.

Hicks, who’s led the peer recruiting efforts for Ohio State’s 2022 class, will undoubtedly play a key role in trying to convince Tuimoloau to become a Buckeye. This weekend will also be crucial to Ohio State’s efforts to beat out Notre Dame for Hayden, who’s believed to be Ohio State’s top target at running back for the rising senior class.

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Their official visits come on the heels of a pair of official visits earlier this week by two of the top offensive linemen in the 2022 class, Addison Nichols and Billy Schrauth.

Looking ahead to the final weekend of official visits, Ohio State got some bad news on Thursday when Christen Miller, one of its top defensive tackle targets in the class, canceled his official visit that was scheduled for June 25-27. Miller is coming off an official visit to USC, which is viewed as the frontrunner to land him because of his acting aspirations off the field, though he told Rivals on Thursday that he is still considering Ohio State as one of two finalists alongside USC.

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