Justin Frye has officially landed his first offensive lineman in the 2024 cycle.
The first-year Ohio State offensive line coach pulled off a major win by landing four-star Indiana offensive lineman Ian Moore on Thursday, ensuring his 2024 class starts off strong with a top-100 prospect.
Moore received his Ohio State offer after camping with the Buckeyes in June, impressing Frye during individual drills and one-on-one reps. From there, no other school could match the standard the Buckeyes set throughout his recruitment.
“Their culture, honestly,” Moore told Eleven Warriors of why he committed to Ohio State in an exclusive interview before his commitment. “Culture, the coaches, the fans, the team. Growing up (in Indiana), you kind of grew up hating Ohio State because they beat your college team every week. But I mean, going there and being recruited by them, it was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had. Getting to see a couple of games there was incredible. Like, the atmosphere was insane. The players were top of the line. You can tell that they've been coached really well.”
With Moore now in the fold, Ohio State hopes to build momentum and continue to add to its 2024 class.
On the Field
Moore has been an anchor at the tackle position for New Palestine’s offensive line in his junior season, and it’s a big reason why his team finished the regular season 9-0.
At 6-foot-5 and 295-pounds, Moore is capable of playing all five offensive line positions in college and worked out at each while on the recruiting camp circuit over the summer. He shows great explosion off the line of scrimmage on running plays and brings the mean streak to the field OSU typically hopes to see in its offensive linemen. Moore follows through on his blocks long after the ball carrier has left his gap, often driving opponents into the ground. He’s also shown great patience and strength in pass protection while handing bull rushes or other pass-rushing moves.
“I feel like I'm a great teammate,” Moore said of what he can bring to OSU. “I feel like I'm pretty explosive off the ball and have a pretty good kick set. Growing up playing basketball, I'm pretty good at moving my feet. I've got good hands because you know hand-eye coordination in basketball was pretty much the most important thing.
“So I mean, I've got a lot of the good fundamental things. I feel like I've definitely got some stuff to improve on. Who knows when I'll play or when I'll actually see the field, but I'm hoping it'll be soon.“
In the Class
Moore is the second player to commit to Ohio State’s 2024 class, joining the man he will likely be protecting at the next level, five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola.
He joins a recent run of Ohio State commits from Indiana including Caden Curry in 2022, Zen Michalski in 2021, Josh Fryar in 2020 and Craig Young and Dawand Jones in 2019.
Raiola had been Ohio State’s only commit in the 2024 class since May, but the star quarterback now has help as a peer recruiter.
The Indiana native told Eleven Warriors he wants to be a peer recruiter for Ohio State, and he knows just the player he wants to start with.
“I've got one person in mind and we talk a lot, and that’s (four-star wide receiver) Mylan Graham, another player from Indiana,” Moore said. “I feel like I'll probably take a big role, trying to get him to come to Ohio State because I've seen him on visits and stuff. And we've talked about how much we like Ohio State and everything, just talked about the experiences. Like just how good the atmosphere was and how good the team is doing. We were talking about how it kind of feels like family.”
