Lining up for Lakota West’s first offensive play from scrimmage against Hamilton on Friday night, Ohio State commit Tegra Tshabola settled in at a three-point stance on the edge, locked in at left tackle.
Two series later, the four-star Tshabola shifted one spot inside to left guard. All night long from the left side, Tshabola helped open running lanes for his teammates in Lakota West’s 49-13 road win. He didn’t care that he didn’t have a set position on the line. The 6-foot-5, 340-pound lineman has lined up wherever his coaches have asked him to dating back to his first years playing football in grade school.
“In little league, (I was) playing everywhere,” Tshabola told Eleven Warriors Friday. “But once I got to high school, my sophomore year the O-line was a little bit shaky so they had me move around to where we were going to run the ball and stuff like that. It just kept happening.”
But the uncertainty of where he’ll line up on a given series has never bothered Tshabola. He thinks it’s one of the primary reasons Ohio State was so interested in him in the first place.
“I mean it’s awesome,” Tshabola said of shuffling positions. “It’s a good thing, it opens my value up so much to play different positions, I’ve played every position all throughout high school and it’s just fun to play everywhere.”
The senior remains fully committed to Ohio State, taking a visit to Columbus on Sept. 11 for the home opener against Oregon. While he obviously would have liked to see his future team come away with a victory, Tshabola enjoyed his visit to The Shoe.
“It was awesome,” he said. “It was like no other, the way that this whole crowd rallies around these players, it’s awesome. I can’t even describe it.”
Tshabola also plans to attend several more games this fall, including this week’s matchup with Akron. He talks with offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and coach Ryan Day nearly every day and said he appreciates how often his future coaches check in on him. But like his high school coaches, he hasn’t been told by Studrawa or Day what position they expect him to play at the collegiate level.
“No sir, but either way it goes, I’ll be ready,” Tshabola said.
Of course, Tshabola won’t be headed to Columbus without an unfamiliar face. His high school teammate, 2022 cornerback Jyaire Brown, is also committed to OSU.
“That’s my boy,” Tshabola said. “We’ve been riding together since we got here, so it feels awesome.”
Howard puts OSU in top 12
Ohio State has made the cut for a trimmed down school list for one of the top tight ends in the class of 2023.
Minneapolis’ Jaxon Howard included the Buckeyes in a top 12 that also includes Minnesota, Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan, Alabama, North Carolina, USC, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State.
@77williehoward @JoshHelmholdt @AllenTrieu @HamiltonESPN @cooperhawksFB @adamgorney @RivalsFriedman pic.twitter.com/s1ZElEazBE
— Jaxon Howard (@11JaxonHoward) September 19, 2021
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Robbinsdale Cooper standout is rated as the 64th-best player in the 2023 cycle, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. He is the son of former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Willie Howard. He's also played defensive end in high school. To this point, he has earned 54 Division I offers.
The Buckeyes already have one tight end committed to their 2023 class in Ty Lockwood. But considering OSU will likely only take one tight end, Bennett Christian, in the 2022 class, the Buckeyes could sign two tight ends in 2023.
Howard visited Minnesota during the Gophers’ season-opening loss to Ohio State on Sept. 2.
Fitzpatrick selected for All-American Bowl
Ohio State 2022 offensive tackle commit George Fitzpatrick has received an invitation to the All-American Bowl in January.
Added a 2x State Champion
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) September 20, 2021
OL George Fitzpatrick (@georgefitz88) has committed to the 2022 All-American Bowl. #GoBucks #AABXXII #AllAmericanBowl pic.twitter.com/7qsl1cvyhl
Fitzpatrick committed to the Buckeyes in July. Other OSU commits scheduled to participate in the 2022 All-American Bowl are Brown, Tshabola, Kojo Antwi, Kaleb Brown, Caleb Burton and Kyion Grayes.
Uncommitted Ohio State targets who are also set to play in the game include Marvin Jones Jr., Christen Miller, Khurtiss Perry, Aamil Wagner, Enai White, Caden Curry, Earnest Greene, Carson Hinzman, Hero Kanu, Chris McClellan and Xavier Nwankpa.
