Three-star 2024 tight end Ryner Swanson may reside in California, but his family has plenty of Ohio roots.
His father, Boad, graduated from Upper Arlington High School in 1991. A good portion of the Swanson family still resides in the Columbus area, so Ryner is used to making yearly trips to Columbus.
But his latest trip to Ohio was certainly more unique than others. About two weeks ago, Ohio State reached out to Swanson to express interest in the tight end and invited him and his family to a game at Ohio Stadium. Swanson and his family attended OSU’s 54-10 victory over Iowa on Saturday, marking his first visit to Columbus as a college football recruit. The trip was everything he imagined it could be.
O-H @osucoachhinton @OSUCoachKDub @bzdebski @adamgorney @P_MAGLOIRE @Laguna_Football pic.twitter.com/3dTnhkY8eQ
— Ryner Swanson 64 1/2 230lbs 2024 (@ryner_swanson) October 23, 2022
“From what I’ve seen, not much compares to Ohio State’s fans, band and old-school tradition,” Swanson told Eleven Warriors. “My dad and I both got a little emotional watching the band in the skull session. I couldn’t believe how many tailgaters there were and how the stadium was packed even for a noon game. That’s rare.”
Swanson’s father has loved the Buckeyes all his life, so naturally, he adopted OSU as his favorite team growing up as well. He’s a bit of a late bloomer to football, though, as he only started playing the sport as a sophomore in high school and grew up primarily playing baseball and basketball. But in a year and a half, he’s blossomed into a Division I football prospect, holding 10 offers from Arizona, BYU, Colorado, Duke, Louisville, Oregon, Oregon State, UNLV, Utah and Vanderbilt. He’s also received interest from Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, Stanford, Penn State, Tennessee, UCLA and USC.
In nine games this season for Laguna Beach High School (Laguna Beach, California), the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Swanson has caught 54 passes for 541 yards with six touchdown receptions. As a sophomore, he hauled in 45 catches for 586 yards with six touchdowns in 12 games.
“I love scoring touchdowns and definitely see myself as a receiving tight end but I’ll do whatever the coaches want me to do,” Swanson said. “I love blocking and really lighting people up too. Tight end is the best position.”
While on his visit, Swanson enjoyed meeting OSU executive director for football relations Tim Hinton, who coached his father in the early 1990s at Ohio University. He also had the opportunity to speak with OSU tight ends coach Kevin Wilson.
“I liked coach Wilson,” Swanson said. “He seemed like a tough coach at first but I had the opportunity to watch game film with him and the tight ends. He’s actually very funny and chill. I can tell the players respect him. He said they typically offer tight ends late since it’s such a developmental position. I’m eager for him to dig into my film and see what I can do.”
While Swanson and Ohio State are at the beginning stages of their relationship, getting an offer from the Buckeyes would fulfill a lifelong dream for the California prospect.
“Ohio State is one of my dream schools,” Swanson said. “To get an offer would mean so much to me and my family. No matter who else offers, Ohio State would be hard to turn down.”
Swanson has visited USC and Alabama this fall in addition to OSU. He hopes to visit Stanford, Oregon and Florida before the year is out. While he does not plan to attend any more OSU games this season, he said he plans on returning to Columbus sometime before his senior season begins.
Inniss honored as All-American
Five-star Florida 2023 wideout Brandon Inniss is the latest Ohio State commit to be honored as an All-American by the All-American Bowl. Inniss was honored Wednesday evening with a virtual jersey presentation highlighting his high school accomplishments and his selection to the annual high school all-star game in January in San Antonio.
Years in the Making
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) October 27, 2022
Welcome WR Brandon Inniss (@brandon5star2) to the 2023 All-American Bowl @NBCSports #GoBucks #theG23ATESTshow #AllAmericanBowl @GEICO pic.twitter.com/o03drZWZXL
In nine games this season for American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), Inniss has caught 41 passes for 740 yards with nine touchdown catches. He’s also returned kickoffs and punts for the Patriots. Inniss has visited OSU for multiple games this fall and has remained one of the most vocal peer recruiters for the Buckeyes on social media (more on that in a bit).
Inniss is one of seven Ohio State commits scheduled to play in the All-American Bowl, where he’ll join Luke Montgomery, Malik Hartford, Calvin Simpson-Hunt, Mark Fletcher, Kayin Lee and Carnell Tate.
Smith cancels Michigan visit
Ohio State fans will certainly love five-star 2024 wide receiver Jeremiah Smith’s recent change of plans. The Florida prospect announced Wednesday he’ll no longer be taking his scheduled visit to Michigan this upcoming weekend.
I will not be visiting Michigan this weekend no more @ChadSimmons_ @Andrew_Ivins @RWrightRivals
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) October 26, 2022
Smith’s seven-on-seven teammate at South Florida Express was also thrilled to hear the news.
— Brandon Inniss (@brandon5star2) October 26, 2022
While no commitment date has been set by Smith, OSU remains in a great position to land the 2024 class’ top-rated wideout, as evidenced by four Crystal Ball projections cast in Ohio State’s favor by 247Sports. Other top wide receiver targets for Ohio State in the 2024 cycle include Joshisa Trader, Tyseer Denmark, Mylan Graham and Jeremiah McClellan.
