Ryan Montgomery and Tavien St. Clair were both winners on Wednesday.
In a head-to-head battle with St. Clair and his Bellefontaine High School team, Montgomery led his Findlay High School team to victory in the championship game of Ohio State’s annual 7-on-7 tournament. Just minutes later, however, St. Clair was celebrating with his Bellefontaine teammates after informing them and Ohio State that he was committing to the Buckeyes to become their quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class.
Until just last month, Montgomery looked like the clear frontrunner to be Ohio State’s quarterback in the 2025 class. The Findlay quarterback was the first quarterback in his class to receive an offer from the Buckeyes, back in 2021 when he was still a freshman, and there had long been an expectation that he would eventually follow in the footsteps of his older brother, current freshman offensive tackle Luke Montgomery, and play for Ohio State.
But that all began to change as St. Clair’s recruiting profile rose this spring. With the selective approach Ohio State had taken to the 2025 quarterback cycle, previously offering only two other quarterbacks – Montgomery and Bryce Underwood, the No. 1-ranked QB in the class – it was clear that Ohio State had serious interest in St. Clair when it pulled the trigger on offering him after Corey Dennis watched him throw at his high school in May. St. Clair’s reciprocal interest in the Buckeyes became certain over the past week as he made three separate trips to Columbus to participate in Ohio State’s high school football camps on Thursday and Tuesday before returning again on Wednesday.
St. Clair said he was told by Ohio State’s coaching staff that he was the Buckeyes’ top target at the quarterback position, which made it easy for the quarterback from less than an hour away from Columbus to decide he wanted to play for his home-state school.
“Listening to the coaches tell me that I was their number one priority and that they wanted me to be a Buckeye, I just kind of felt like it meant more to me,” St. Clair said Wednesday after giving Ohio State his commitment. “Being a kid from Ohio, that's what's your dream of is being a Buckeye. So getting the opportunity to play here just makes sense.”
After watching St. Clair throw at three different camps over the past week and lead his team to the championship game of Wednesday’s 7-on-7 tournament, it’s easy to see why Ohio State chose to go all-in on St. Clair. After bulking up from 180 pounds last football season to 216 pounds now, the 6-foot-4 quarterback very much looks the part of an Ohio State passer. His arm strength is evident in his ability to launch strikes down the field, while he also has the athleticism to extend plays outside the pocket and throw the ball accurately on the run.
Another deep bomb from Tavien St. Clair: pic.twitter.com/JlB6pyim5w
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 21, 2023
Beyond his physical transformation, St. Clair is also much more confident in himself than he was a year ago. While St. Clair had only a half-dozen offers when he participated in the 2022 version of Ohio State’s 7-on-7 tournament, he has more than two dozen offers now, also including the likes of Alabama, Florida, LSU, Michigan and Penn State. Knowing that Ohio State already wanted him when he took the field this year allowed St. Clair to play much more freely.
“I mean, it's kind of hard not to have confidence when you have an Ohio State offer,” St. Clair said. “But last year, it was more of trying to prove myself a lot, and now I feel like I don't really have to necessarily prove myself, just be the best I can be.”
Wednesday’s tournament also showed that St. Clair still has a long way to go in his development before he can become Ohio State’s next great quarterback. He threw several interceptions over the course of Wednesday’s event, including multiple instances where he threw what likely would have been pick-sixes in a real game after staring down his initial read.
But a high school junior isn‘t expected to be a finished product, and while there were a few throws from Wednesday that St. Clair would surely like to have back, there were many more plays that showed why Ohio State is betting on his upside. St. Clair is still regarded as a three-star recruit with a composite ranking of No. 333 overall in the 2025 class, but it would be a surprise if St. Clair doesn’t make a big move up the rankings soon considering how many elite programs he impressed this spring.
As for Montgomery, there was plenty to be impressed by with his performance on Wednesday, too. The four-star quarterback was consistently accurate and efficient throughout the tournament, showing why he also has offers from more than two dozen schools including the likes of Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M in addition to Ohio State.
Ryan Montgomery and his Findlay High School teammates are among the participants in Ohio States 7-on-7 tournament today. pic.twitter.com/NPo05rYsjP
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 21, 2023
It’s not entirely out of the question that Montgomery could still join St. Clair in Ohio State’s 2025 class. St. Clair and Montgomery are friendly with each other, and St. Clair said he would welcome Montgomery into the class if Montgomery wanted to join.
“I'm down for whatever. Our ideas right now are that we’ll go separate ways, but if that is what it came to, that's fine,” St. Clair said.
I appreciate you @RyanMonty2025 all love bro
— Tavien St. Clair (@TJSaint_1) June 22, 2023
When asked about the hypothetical possibility of a two-quarterback class before St. Clair’s commitment on Wednesday afternoon, Montgomery didn’t rule anything out but said he would prefer to be the lone quarterback in his team’s recruiting class.
“Ideally, I would like to be just the only guy,” Montgomery said. “I haven't really thought about that yet. Obviously, whichever school that I'm going to pick is because that's where I feel most comfortable and if that happens to be a place where there’s two quarterbacks, then so be it. I’m gonna go in there and compete.”
Whether Ohio State will continue to pursue Montgomery or any other quarterbacks in the 2025 class to potentially join St. Clair is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the Buckeyes wanted St. Clair to be the quarterback they build their 2025 class around. And now that he is committed to the Buckeyes, St. Clair plans to take that leadership mantle and work to recruit other top prospects to join him in that class.
“As a quarterback, you got to be the leader. I feel like that's something that comes with it. If you commit early, it's just something you got to do,” St. Clair said. “So I want to take it to the next level. I'll recruit anybody across the country they want me to.”
