The Hurry-Up: 2024 Targets Charles Lester III, Stacy Gage, Donovan Harbour and KJ Bolden Include Ohio State in Their Top Schools Lists

By Garrick Hodge on January 2, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Charles Lester III
Charles Lester III
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The first Hurry-Up of the new year may as well be titled “every 2024 prospect releases a top schools list.”

Several prospects with Ohio State offers narrowed down their recruitments over the weekend, some of which included the Buckeyes and others that did not. We’ll get into all of it below. 

Lester III puts Ohio State in his top 5

One of Ohio State’s top cornerback targets in the 2024 cycle is already down to five teams. Florida five-star cornerback Charles Lester III announced a top five Sunday of Ohio State, Florida State, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. 

Lester visited Columbus for the Buckeyes’ game against Wisconsin in September, and OSU in turn made a trip to Florida to check in on him during the team’s off week in October. 

“He said it was awesome and different than a lot of places he’s been at,” Lester’s head coach Josh Smithers told Eleven Warriors in October of his visit to OSU earlier in the fall. “The energy and environment were great and he said the fans were crazy and loud. He was really impressed by the whole atmosphere when he got there and when he left. He has a great relationship with coach (Tim) Walton, who’s done a great job recruiting him.”

With a top five already set in stone, it’s probably not a big mystery what schools are going to be the ones receiving official visits from Lester this summer. The 6-foot-1, 171-pound cornerback would like to commit sometime before the start of his senior year.

Gage has Buckeyes in his top eight

Four-star Florida running back Stacy Gage is another 2024 prospect with a top schools list featuring Ohio State, as Gage released a top eight Sunday consisting of OSU, Florida, Penn State, Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, Colorado and Miami.

Gage visited OSU on Nov. 26 for the Michigan game and has been in Columbus for recruiting camps and spring practices in the past year. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Gage has built a strong relationship with OSU running backs coach Tony Alford, coming to OSU to work out with him in June despite already having a Buckeyes offer. 

“It felt great,” Gage said after his workout in June. “Just being coached by one of my coaches that’s been talking to me since my eighth-grade summer, so just putting that work in made me feel good, feel like a Buckeye again. … Me and Coach Alford talk almost every week,” Gage said. “He tells me I fit great into the program, I’d be a good Buckeye running back. He says I fit the program and I could be a Buckeye.”

Harbour lists Ohio State in his top seven

Count a top-100 prospect on the offensive line among the players that placed the Buckeyes in a top schools list over the weekend. Four-star Wisconsin prospect Donovan Harbour released a top seven Saturday of Penn State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida, Wisconsin, Oregon and Michigan. 

Harbour visited OSU twice last fall, attending the Notre Dame and Wisconsin games. Should he commit to Ohio State, he’d only be the fourth player ever from the state of Wisconsin to play for the Buckeyes, and he’d likely be teammates with one of the other three, Carson Hinzman.

Bolden includes OSU in his top 15

The newly minted No. 1 recruiting target for Ohio State put out a top schools list Sunday as well, though with the caliber of player that he is, a top 15 isn’t really narrowing down the recruitment all that much. Five-star safety KJ Bolden put the Buckeyes on a top 15 along with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Colorado, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and USC. 

Though 15 schools are still technically in the running for Bolden, his recruitment is thought to be a race between Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State. Bolden visited OSU multiple times this past year, including various gameday visits and the Buckeyes’ spring game. 

Robinson IV, Pellum leaves Buckeyes off top schools list

There were also two highly touted targets that didn’t include Ohio State amongst their top schools lists over the weekend: Five-star cornerback Ellis Robinson IV and four-star wide receiver Ryan Pellum. 

With those two seemingly no longer in the picture, OSU will put more of its focus on other prospects at their respective positions.

Fentrell Cypress commits to Florida State

Oh hey, I suppose there’s actual recruiting news to delve into besides a plethora of top school lists being released. Virginia transfer cornerback Fentrell Cypress, one of the top options at cornerback in the transfer portal, committed to Florida State Sunday.

While Ohio State was connected to him quickly after he put his name in the portal, the Buckeyes never had much momentum with Cypress any time after that. It’s plausible that Ohio State will explore adding another cornerback transfer after Kayin Lee flipped to Georgia, but should the Buckeyes do that, they’ll have to pivot to other options.

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