Ohio State Riding “Momentum” on the Recruiting Trail As the Buckeyes Prepare to Welcome More Than 35 Visitors to Columbus This Weekend

By Garrick Hodge on April 14, 2023 at 11:05 am
Ryan Day
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Heading into Saturday’s spring game, Ohio State feels good about where it sits in the 2024 recruiting class.

In the past two weeks, the Buckeyes have landed four commitments from premier prospects, including five-star wide receiver Mylan Graham, four-star running back James Peoples, four-star quarterback Air Noland and four-star linebacker Payton Pierce. Ohio State now sits at 10 commitments total in the 2024 cycle, and has vaulted into the No. 2 spot in 247Sports’ national recruiting class rankings. 

The Buckeyes seemingly have all the recruiting momentum in the world on their side as they prepare to welcome more than 35 recruits to campus on Saturday for their spring game. If you ask Ryan Day, the catalyst of the momentum has been peer recruiting from the Buckeyes’ current crop of commits.

“I think when you start to see guys jump on board and recruit each other, I think that's a sign of how things are going in recruiting,” Day said Wednesday. “I think it's a sign of how people view the program and the culture and what's going on here, I think that's probably what you're seeing right now. Guys are coming on these visits, they're getting around our players, they're getting around our coaches. You know, they see who we are, they see the foundation of the program here, they see not only a program that competes nationally for championships every single year but also has a culture that you want to send your son to be a part of.”

In the 2022 recruiting class, C.J. Hicks was anointed “Captain Buckeye” for his peer recruiting efforts. For the 2023 class, Luke Montgomery picked up that mantle in a big way. Thus far in the 2024 class, Devontae and Deontae Armstrong have been extremely vocal on social media in peer recruiting, Peoples has joined the fray frequently following his commitment earlier this month, and five-star wideout Jeremiah Smith has also been an active recruiter on social media. 

“There is momentum,” Day said. “It's probably some of the recruits jumping on board and then recruiting the other recruits to come on, because that's the great thing about committing early, is that you get to actually have an impact on your recruiting class and your teammates. I say it all the time, how cool is that to be able to lead your recruiting class or your side of the ball? And we listen to those guys because they tell us the real information sometimes. The recruits, they put on a different face in front of the coaches, but behind closed doors, they're real with the recruits. And so we take a lot of their feedback back. And that and just access to the program or the benefits to jump in early, which, you know, again, some of the guys are doing now.”

Of course, Day and the rest of Ohio State’s football staff are hoping the momentum carries over into this weekend. And there’s a good chance that it could. 

Ohio State is expected to have multiple commits on campus Saturday in the Armstrong brothers, Ian Moore, Garrett Stover, Smith and Graham. Smith made it to Columbus this weekend, despite poor weather conditions in Florida making traveling to Columbus difficult considering the Fort Lauderdale airport was closed until Friday due to severe flooding. However, a source told Eleven Warriors Friday that five-star wide receiver Joshisa Trader, who was scheduled to visit this weekend, likely won't be able to make it. Nevertheless, there will be plenty of prospects Ohio State will look to its commits to continue to help recruit. 

If last year is any indication, the spring game weekend could be good for a commitment or two, as both Bryson Rodgers and Dijon Johnson (who later decommitted from Ohio State) committed to the Buckeyes the day after the Buckeyes’ spring game in 2022.

Ohio prospects are always the most likely to pull the trigger and commit before official visit season begins in June, and a pair of uncommitted in-state prospects with Ohio State offers are expected to return to Columbus this weekend in running back Sam Williams-Dixon and safety Reggie Powers, so those are two prospects that could be worth watching. It’s also always possible a commitment comes completely out of left field, as Johnson’s essentially was last year. 

Regardless of any potential commitments, there are plenty of prospects Ohio State plans on recruiting in each of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 cycles. We’ve compiled a full list of expected visitors below.

Expected spring game visitors 

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