A BUCKEYE BASHING
Ohio State conquers Chicago with a 31-7 beatdown of Northwestern at Wrigley Field.
Four-star 2024 Georgia quarterback Air Noland’s recruitment is moving quickly.
The top-100 prospect per 247Sports’ composite rankings told Eleven Warriors Tuesday he plans to make a commitment by the end of the spring, so his upcoming round of visits will be critical in his recruitment.
“I plan on making my commitment really, really soon,” Noland said.
Noland's scheduled spring visits include Ohio State, Texas A&M, Miami, Arkansas, Alabama, Purdue and Clemson. Noland will visit Columbus from March 31 to April 1.
“I’m extremely excited to get myself and my mom up there to Ohio State,” Noland told Eleven Warriors. “I think Ohio State’s coaching staff has done a great job recruiting me between coach (Ryan) Day, coach (Corey) Dennis and coach (Brian) Hartline. They’ve visited my school twice, and I think they think I have the right intangibles and all the right things to play quarterback for Ohio State. I think coach Dennis does a great job with quarterbacks and coach Day and coach Hartline’s offensive system is a very quarterback-oriented type of offense. A lot of quarterbacks have watched Ohio State this year and previous to this year and saw how explosive the offense can be. I’m very excited and can’t wait to get to Columbus.”
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound signal-caller has received Division I offers from more than 30 schools, yet Ohio State is not among those that have offered yet. Noland believes that will change when he’s on campus.
“They’ve visited my school twice and have seen me throw twice, so I know they think I have a great throwing motion and that I’m very accurate,” Noland said. “Offer wise, I think once I get up to Columbus, they’ll offer me right then and there.”
If Noland receives an offer from Ohio State, he believes it will have a big impact on his recruitment.
“It would mean a lot. It would definitely have some type of effect on my recruitment and some type of change. At the end of the day, I want to pick what offense best suits me. If that’s Ohio State, it’s Ohio State. I want an offense I can be myself in, an offense I can have some type of control over and an offense that I can prepare myself for the next level.”
While Noland and Ohio State have only recently reconnected the past few months after the decommitment of five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the Buckeyes have been looking at Noland since the Georgia product’s sophomore season when Dennis stopped by Langston Hughes High School (Fairburn, Georgia) and watched Noland work out. Dennis returned to Langston Hughes after Noland’s junior season to watch him throw again, and now Noland and his family will make the trek to Columbus in a month.
“(I talk to them) almost every day man,” Noland said of Dennis, Day and Hartline. “We talk seven days out of the week, no less than five per week.”
Noland helped lead Langston Hughes to an undefeated 15-0 record in his junior season, completing 236 of 323 passes for 4,095 yards, a whopping 55 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also ran for five touchdowns last year. One of his top pass catchers from last season was Ohio State freshman tight end Jelani Thurman, who Noland would love to play with at the next level.
“He’s sold me on Ohio State a lot,” Noland said. “He loves it up there in Columbus. Jelani works very hard and is very smart. He does the right things on and off the field. We talk every day. That’s my guy. You never know. You might run into him and play with a guy like that again in college. It’s in God’s hands.”
Armstrong twins to visit Ohio State on March 25
Two of Ohio State’s priority offensive line targets for the 2024 class have locked in another visit to Columbus. Devontae and Deontae Armstrong have confirmed to 247Sports they’ll be at OSU on March 25, the tandem’s first visit to campus since visiting in late January.
The Armstrongs are two of the three offensive line prospects from Ohio to pick up OSU offers in the 2024 class, the other being Marc Nave, who will visit Columbus on March 7. Both have also moved from three- to four-star recruits in the 247Sports composite rankings, and both brothers picked up a Georgia offer on Tuesday.
Jordan Lyle will make trip to Columbus on March 23
The Armstrong twins aren’t the only prominent prospects in the 2024 class to have a trip scheduled for OSU in late March. Four-star Florida running back Jordan Lyle will visit Columbus on March 23, his first trip to OSU since being offered by Tony Alford on Jan. 10.
Last season for St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), Lyle helped lead his team to an undefeated season at 14-0 and a state title. He ran for 1,015 yards on 91 carries (11.2 yards per carry) and 12 rushing touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 55 yards.
