Last fall was a wild ride for 2024 tight end Tayvion Galloway.
In August, the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Galloway only had one Division I offer to his name: Buffalo. In the months that followed, he picked up 13 more scholarship opportunities, including LSU, Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue and Rutgers, to give him 14 total.
“It was kind of crazy,” Galloway said of his breakout on the recruiting scene. “Honestly it’s been a blessing, I’ve just been putting the work in and stuff like that.”
Ohio State is not yet among the colleges that have offered Galloway, but that could change this spring or this summer if the Buckeyes like what they see from Galloway in workouts.
“That would honestly mean the world to me,” Galloway said of a potential OSU offer. “Everyone around me knows and watches Ohio State. If I could get a full-ride scholarship offer, that’s big.”
With visits to LSU, Cincinnati and Michigan scheduled for early March, Galloway has added a trip to Columbus to his docket for March 22. Galloway visited Ohio State for the Tulsa game in September, but did not get a chance to meet with Ryan Day on that visit. That will change this spring, as Kevin Wilson talked to Galloway this week about the visit logistics.
“I’m really excited,” Galloway said of his upcoming trip to OSU. “I’m honestly looking forward to just building my connection with coach Wilson and getting to meet coach Day. (Wilson) basically just told me that he wants to introduce me to coach Day so coach Day and I can build a connection. He really just wants to see me, get me worked out and also see me for a camp.”
Although he doesn’t have an OSU offer yet, Galloway says he and Wilson talk around twice a week currently. If the next few months go well and Ohio State offers Galloway, he’d be flattered to get an offer from the team most of his friends and family grew up rooting for.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I grew up an Ohio State fan, but obviously growing up just an hour away from Columbus, obviously that’s a big college for me because all I saw growing up was Ohio State,” Galloway said.
Galloway caught nine passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns during his sophomore season at Unioto this past fall. Defensively, he racked up 38 tackles with 1.5 sacks and an interception he returned for a touchdown. He plans to play his junior season for Chillicothe High School.
“I’d consider myself more of a receiving tight end for sure,” Galloway said when asked if he was more of a receiving or blocking tight end. “Just because of my ability to go up and high-point the ball, my speed and agility with my size and strength.”
Sampson Jr. updates top five
One of Ohio State’s defensive line targets for the 2023 cycle has made a slight change to his top five. On Jan. 15, four-star defensive lineman Keith Sampson Jr. released a top five consisting of Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina State. About six weeks later, Sampson Jr. released a revised top five, with the only change being Florida State in place of Georgia.
A slight change was made to my list. @yair06601151 @OhioStateFB @FSUFootball @odellhaggins @Coach_Norvell @PackFootball @coachwiles @GamecockFB @CoachSBeamer @CoachLindsey @MoHard20 @ClemsonFB @CoachEason1 @coachski_ pic.twitter.com/qpvwkU4Td6
— Keith Sampson Jr. (KJ) (@ksampson94) February 25, 2022
A North Carolina resident, Sampson camped at Ohio State last June and attended the Penn State game on Oct. 30. Shortly after that trip in October, Sampson Jr. told Eleven Warriors Ohio State was at the top of his list.
“They were all saying I was the type of person that they wanted at their school and my film looked really good this year,” Sampson Jr. said in October.
Sampson Jr. told 247Sports earlier this week he will visit Ohio State again, though he’s unsure if the next visit will be an unofficial or official visit. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Sampson Jr. said he plans to take all of his official visits in the summer.
Sampson Jr. is ranked as the 206th-best player and the 27th-ranked defensive lineman in the 2023 cycle. If he chooses Ohio State, he’d follow in the footsteps of several other recent recruits from North Carolina who are now with the Buckeyes, including Jaden McKenzie in the 2019 class, Jacolbe Cowan in 2020 and Evan Pryor in 2021.
Trotter leaves out OSU
One of Ohio State’s 2023 linebacker targets appears to no longer be considering the Buckeyes. Four-star Pennsylvania linebacker Josiah Trotter put out a top five Friday but left out Ohio State, narrowing his college choices to Virginia Tech, Clemson, Penn State, West Virginia and South Carolina.
@rledits24 pic.twitter.com/lZgBW5Tmhs
— Josiah Trotter (@TrotterJosiah) February 25, 2022
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker is ranked as the 269th-best prospect and the 26th-best linebacker in the 2023 class. Other linebacker targets for OSU in the class include Tackett Curtis, Jaiden Ausberry, Troy Bowles, Lewis Carter and S’maje Burrell.
