Three-star 2024 Ohio tight end Gavin Grover’s Ohio State visit on Oct. 1 for the Rutgers game isn’t something that the 6-foot-6, 220-pound prospect will forget any time soon.
“I had a really cool day, checked in right at 1:30 p.m., got to walk to the team room and talk to coach Ed Terwilliger," Grover told Eleven Warriors. "It was an awesome experience being from Central Ohio. It was a unique opportunity for me to see all that and behind the scenes of everything that goes into it. I got to talk to coach Day and coach Wilson and loved what they had to say.”
Grover grew up rooting for Ohio State and has attended games in Ohio Stadium before, but this was his first as a recruit. Standing on the sidelines pregame, both Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson spoke with Grover.
“Coach Day’s son goes to Olentangy, so he was just chatting it up with me about his son,” Grover said. “He was also telling me he was just happy to finally get me down for a game. He had been trying to schedule me for a little while.”
Thank you @OSUCoachKDub and @ryandaytime for having me. I had a great time watching @OhioStateFB in action. @OSUCoachHinton @etwill21 @OHSBravesFB @BuckeyeHuddle pic.twitter.com/bQM4VoOi9U
— Gavin Grover (@GavinGrover87) October 2, 2022
Talking to Wilson has been nothing new for Grover, who said he and the Ohio State tight ends coach communicate once or twice every other week.
“Sometimes we’ll talk about what Ohio State is doing, Cade Stover has been getting a lot more involved in the offense, and that’s great to see,” Grover said. “And also what he wants to see from me as far as me being more physical at the point of attack on the line of scrimmage. He just talks about how I can improve and where he wants to see me go that can lead to me receiving an offer from Ohio State.
“He’s kind of been saying be aggressive and be confident. Because sometimes you need to just go make the play and be physical and aggressive. Sometimes it’s a mental piece and just attack your man. You have to really use your hands because if you don’t, you’ll get bad placement, and you’re gonna miss the block.”
While Wilson and Tim Hinton, Ohio State's executive director for football relations, have told Grover he needs to improve as a blocker, both are impressed by his pass-catching ability. In seven games for Olentangy, Grover has caught 28 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns this season.
“Even the other day, I was talking to him and coach Hinton, they both told me, ‘We know you can catch the ball, and we know that you can move and have good hands,’” Grover said. “So I’m pretty good at the receiving part of being a tight end. They just want to see more on the blocking side of the ball.”
Grover currently holds 12 Division I offers, including Michigan State, Akron, Ball State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kentucky, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He’d love to add his hometown school to that list.
“I think it would be surreal to get an Ohio State offer, especially since they’ve been using the tight ends a lot more,” Grover said. I think it would be an amazing opportunity, and growing up an Ohio State fan would be it would be a really unique experience to have. Being that close to home and having all my family come to my games if I committed there would be something special for sure.”
This fall, Grover has also visited Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Kentucky and plans to visit Michigan State this weekend and Penn State and Michigan later this season. He said he’d like to return to Ohio State sometime this season, ideally for the Michigan game.
OSU offers Toure
Ohio State has offered another safety for the 2024 class. Four-star New Jersey safety Vaboue Toure picked up his Ohio State offer on Monday, giving him 13 Division I offers in total.
After a great conversation with @Coach_Eliano I am beyond Blessed to receive an offer from THE Ohio State University! #irvingtontuff #GoBucks @CoachSmokeNJ @Blessedking1000 @IbkBender pic.twitter.com/6J1bgcFa0Q
— Vaboue Toure (@VabxToure) October 10, 2022
Other schools that have offered Toure include Alabama, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Wisconsin. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound prospect is considered the 195th-best prospect and 18th-best safety in the 2024 class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Day visits Lester III
In Monday’s Hurry-Up, we touched on Ryan Day and Larry Johnson utilizing the off week to make key recruiting stops in Florida to both five-star 2023 defensive ends Keon Keeley and Damon Wilson. But Day also stopped at Riverview High School to see five-star 2024 cornerback Charles Lester III.
It was great having the opportunity to meet Ohio States Head Coach, Coach Ryan Day today, and talk about Riverview Football! #RamLife#WeBleedMaroon pic.twitter.com/2JaKKGG9IX
— Riverview Football (@RamsRhsFootball) October 10, 2022
Lester III visited OSU on Sept. 24 for the Wisconsin game and is emerging as one of OSU’s top priorities at cornerback in the 2024 class, especially considering Day made it a priority to get to his school during the off week.
