The Hurry-Up: Four-star 2025 TE Nate Roberts Lauds Ohio State's Culture and Will Visit Friday, Bryce West Puts OSU in Top 7, Buckeyes Prepare to Host First Recruiting Camp

By Garrick Hodge on June 7, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Nate Roberts
Instagram/@nateroberts_9
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One of the top tight ends in the 2025 class plans on making a trip to Columbus this week.

Four-star Oklahoma prospect Nate Roberts told Eleven Warriors he plans on visiting OSU on Friday and will tour the campus and athletic facilities and meet with Ryan Day and tight ends coach Keenan Bailey. 

Roberts was offered by Bailey on May 16 and included the Buckeyes in his top 12 schools earlier this week along with Notre Dame, Oregon, Georgia, Baylor, Clemson, Miami, Penn State, Michigan, Auburn, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

“Coach Bailey came out and saw me during spring ball, and that means a lot to me,” Roberts told Eleven Warriors. “Just when we first met each other, I felt something between us and felt we could really do something together. I feel like he really wants me to get better and he can really coach me. He showed a lot of interest in me and I have a lot of interest in him. Since he saw me, I need to make a trip out there.

“He offered me when he came and saw me. Having an offer from Ohio State is awesome and means a lot to me. It’s a blessing and really exciting for me and my family. The culture that has been at Ohio State has been amazing in past years, they’re the most winning culture right now. I feel like they’ve been using the heck out of the tight ends lately. I feel like Ohio State can be a place where I can get both the best culture and best playing experience.” 

Roberts is considered the 121st-ranked prospect and the fifth-ranked tight end in the 2025 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings. In Roberts’ sophomore year at Washington High School (Washington, Oklahoma), he helped lead his team to a 17-0 record and a state title while catching 33 passes for 705 yards with 11 receiving touchdowns while splitting his time 50-50 between lining up in-line and out wide.

“I don’t want to be known as only a pass-catching or blocking tight end, I want to be known as both,” Roberts said. “If you watch my film, you’ll see that I block just as much as I catch. I can do both. Ohio State uses the tight ends in both positions, they don’t just use them on the line or in the H-back position. I think with me being able to do both, I can learn both positions at Ohio State and I can learn so much more and get more playing time if I work hard enough.” 

Roberts has put out a top 12, but said he envisions cutting things down even further to five or three schools by August. He believes he’ll have an idea of where he’ll like to commit to after a few visits.

“I’m looking for the amount of how much they use 12 and 13 personnel, the culture that they have, good academics, great coaching staff, friendly people and a great campus,” Roberts said of the main factors he’s looking for in a school. 

Bryce West puts Ohio State in top seven

One of Ohio State's top remaining cornerback targets in the 2024 class has narrowed down his recruitment. Four-star Ohio cornerback Bryce West included Ohio State in his top seven schools on Wednesday along with Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M, USC, Alabama and Georgia.

West will take an official visit to Michigan this weekend, USC on June 16 and Ohio State on June 23. Heading into his official visits, Ohio State remains the frontrunner for Ohio's No. 1 prospect in 2024, but the Buckeyes will need to continue to put a full-court press on the Glenville product when he visits later this month.

Though an exact timeline for West to make a decision is unclear, he did tell Eleven Warriors in April a decision could come earlier than his original plan of committing in December on Signing Day.

Ohio State to begin first of five one-day football camps

OSU will kick off its first of five one-day football camps for high school prospects on Thursday, with plenty of talented recruits expected to be in attendance. Other one-day camps will be on June 12, 14, 15 and 20 along with the yearly seven-on-seven tournament on June 21. 

Recruiting camps often lead to a bevy of offers to prospects from varying classes. For example, in last year’s circuit, freshman OSU cornerback Jermaine Mathews earned his Buckeye offer during the first camp of the summer, and eventual 2024 offensive line commit Ian Moore was offered by Justin Frye two weeks later. Eleven Warriors will have coverage of the camps each day, but in the meantime, here are a few prospects that are expected to participate in Thursday’s camp.

Kevyn Humes earns an Ohio State offer

At the conclusion of his Ohio State visit on Wednesday, four-star 2025 cornerback Kevyn Humes earned an OSU offer from cornerbacks coach Tim Walton. 

Humes is considered the 312nd-ranked prospect and the 31st-rated cornerback in the 2025 class and has picked up 11 Division I offers. Other offers Humes has amassed include Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect helped lead St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Maryland) to a 9-1 record last season. 

Jacob to visit OSU Thursday

Four-star cornerback Cai Bates won't be the only interesting 2024 defensive back of note visiting Columbus on Thursday. Per 247Sports, four-star 2024 safety Brandon Jacob will also be in attendance on Columbus Thursday. 

Jacob is considered the 160th-ranked prospect and the 14th-rated safety in 2024 and was offered by OSU on May 21. 

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