For whatever reason, things have been moving at a snail’s pace on the recruiting front for Ohio State recently.
There has still only been one commitment for the class of 2023, a rarity at this point in the calendar, and it’s been months since the class of 2022 added a recruit.
Maybe it’s the continued ramifications of the previous extended dead period due to COVID-19, or something else entirely. Whatever the reason, this month is going to see a lot of key visitors on campus, so maybe that will help speed things up a bit.
Let’s start in the interim. While this weekend won’t feature a visiting cast with nearly the overall recruiting prowess Ohio State’s game on Oct. 30 against Penn State will boast, it does have a couple key expected visitors planning to make the trip to Columbus.
The first is 2023 wideout Carnell Tate. Tate, a four-star recruit rated the 58th-best prospect nationally and ninth-best wideout per 247Sports’ composite rankings, originally planned to choose his new school this Friday during a visit with his family in Chicago. He will instead push back that commitment to an unknown date so he can go on more visits to schools.
When the IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) product played in Canton last September against the fake school that shall not be named, he told Eleven Warriors he had only planned to visit Notre Dame, a school OSU is currently neck-and-neck with in the battle for Tate, before his originally planned commitment announcement. He said he was invited to OSU’s game against Maryland if he committed to them on his previously announced timetable. Since he will not be committed before the end of the weekend, it’s likely Tate will take his visit to Columbus for the Maryland game.
Secondly, five-star 2023 cornerback AJ Harris and his family plan to be in Columbus this weekend since Harris plays his prep game on Thursday this week and will not have a problem making a noon kickoff despite living in Alabama.
Earlier this week, Ryan Day told reporters he has not been asked by any recruits or the families about the situation on the defensive staff regarding Kerry Coombs and Matt Barnes changing roles. That may change this week, since the Harris family has been the most vocal in their support of Coombs as a recruiter.
Legacy recruit Will Smith Jr. will also be at Ohio State on Saturday, along with C.J. Hicks and 2022 tight end commit Bennett Christian. Another confirmed visitor is 2024 safety and running back Garrett Stover, the cousin of current OSU tight end Cade Stover.
Big guest list forming for PSU game
As days go by, the recruiting guest list for Oct. 30 gets more appetizing.
On Wednesday, we learned five-star linebacker Jaiden Ausberry will be in attendance for the Penn State game.
Also this week, 2022 five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart confirmed his visit plans with 247Sports and 2023 four-star wideout Zachariah Branch did the same with On3.
Branch will be bringing his brother, 2022 four-star safety Zion Branch, with him on his visit. Priority 2022 defensive tackle target Hero Kanu, who recently dropped a top-five, has also said he will be at the game, along with priority 2022 safety target Xavier Nwankpa. Five-star running back Richard Young may also be in attendance.
Captain Buckeye back at it
It had been a little bit since stud linebacker C.J. Hicks, otherwise known as Captain Buckeye himself for the 2022 recruiting class, had openly encouraged his fellow recruits to join him at Ohio State.
On Wednesday, he was back at it, trying to get the attention of linebacker Troy Bowles and in-state safety/linebacker Sonny Styles.
Yall know the move @sonnystyles_ @TroyBowles11
— CJ KING Hicks (@imcjhicks) October 6, 2021
Bowles was supposed to visit Columbus last month but eventually rescheduled to Oct. 30. The 52nd-best prospect and fourth-best linebacker in 2023 visited Rutgers and watched Ohio State’s 52-13 win last week.
Styles, rated the eighth-best prospect and top safety in 2023, visited Ohio State on Sept. 11. He recently included the Buckeyes in his final five schools.
