Walking out of the southeast tunnel leading to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Bennett Christian couldn’t help but flash a smile.
The 2022 four-star tight end prospect has been committed to the Buckeyes for almost a year, but last weekend was his first opportunity to see an Ohio State game in person. Fully soaking in the environment he’ll experience for his collegiate career, the Georgia resident wasn’t disappointed. Especially since the Buckeyes delivered a dominating 66-17 victory over Maryland.
“It was great,” Christian told Eleven Warriors Monday night. “Finally my first OSU game, definitely lived up to the expectations and it was a great atmosphere. Ohio State played really well, so it was fun to watch … To be honest, it was almost exactly like I expected it to be. Just from watching TV and videos. The O-H and then I-O chant around the stadium was really cool. That was probably the highlight of the whole stadium as far as atmosphere goes.”
Christian spent a lot of the visit with fellow 2022 commits C.J. Hicks and Tegra Tshabola.
“It was good, I haven’t seen those guys since my official visit back in June,” Christian said. “It was good seeing them and continuing to build the relationship with those guys and strengthen the brotherhood.”
Christian also spent time with Ryan Day, OSU tight ends coach Kevin Wilson and assistant athletic director for player personnel Mark Pantoni on the visit. Along with his father, Christian got to watch Wilson break down some of the game film from Maryland on Sunday morning.
“I probably talk to at least one of the coaches almost every day,” Christian said. “Even if it’s just a quick text to the coaches. I’ll probably talk to coach Wilson three times a week, maybe on the phone.”
Christian, who caught 20 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns for Allatoona (Atworth, Georgia) in his junior season, is still waiting to see how he’ll be deployed by the Buckeyes next year.
“I guess I’ll find out when I get there, I’m not really sure how I’ll be used,” Christian said. “I really like how they split the tight ends out and bring them in and everything in-between. The really complete players are able to catch and block. So I’m just ready to get developed and see where I fit in.”
OSU coaches on the road
Ohio State coaches are staying busy on the recruiting trail during the open week. At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Ryan Day said Ohio State coaches traveled to see recruits Monday and plan to do so again on Friday.
According to 247Sports, wideouts coach Brian Hartline will travel to Georgia to watch 2022 commit Kojo Antwi’s game Friday night, while Day and defensive backs coach Matt Barnes will head to Des Moines, Iowa to watch 2022 safety target Xavier Nwankpa and 2023 offensive tackle target Kadyn Proctor.
Nwankpa, who recently put Ohio State in his top three, has plans to visit OSU on Oct. 30 for the Buckeyes’ game against Penn State. Proctor, rated the fifth-best prospect and the best tackle nationally per 247Sports’ composite rankings, said in September he hoped to visit OSU this fall but had not decided on a date.
Young confirms OSU visit
For the past few months, the top running back in the class of 2023 has tried to nail down a visit to Columbus. On Tuesday, 247Sports confirmed that Richard Young will be in attendance for OSU’s game against Penn State on Oct. 30.
Young, a five-star running back, is rated as the 21st-best prospect for the 2023 class.
Programming note
Most of you have enjoyed Ramzy’s anti-fall weddings columns that have appeared on this site. Unfortunately, my friend tends not to agree with that assessment and has the audacity to have his special day in October. Fortunately, he had the decency to schedule it on Ohio State’s bye week, so not a total loss.
That tongue-in-cheek previous paragraph is all to say this will be my last Hurry-Up for the week, as I am heading to Florida on Wednesday morning for the wedding. These recruiting updates will be back to their regularly scheduled time slot on Monday. Before I depart, I will have an update on five-star cornerback AJ Harris that will be published Wednesday morning.
