Ohio State Expecting More Than 80 Recruiting Visitors for Its Largest Recruiting Weekend of the Fall Against Penn State

By Garrick Hodge on October 20, 2023 at 11:35 am
Devin Sanchez
Devin Sanchez
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Ohio State’s largest recruiting weekend of the fall has arrived.

On Thursday, Ryan Day said he expects more than 80 recruiting visitors and their families to be on campus for the Buckeyes’ undefeated clash with Penn State on Saturday, with highly touted prospects from each of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes expected to be in attendance. 

In the 2024 class, the majority of Ohio State’s 22 commits will be at Ohio Stadium along with two names of interest worth monitoring.  

Four-star defensive lineman Amaris Williams, a Florida commit, will be making his first visit to Columbus since being offered by the Buckeyes on Oct. 2. Williams' trip will be an official visit, so he'll be able to spend plenty of time with OSU's coaching staff following the game on Saturday and Sunday before he heads back to his home state of North Carolina.

There's cautious optimism that OSU can eventually convince Williams to flip, and the thinking is he wouldn't be visiting if he wasn't at least seriously considering it. With Booker Pickett Jr. committed to Miami as of Thursday night, Williams and Deshawn Warner are the Buckeyes' top two remaining defensive line targets in the 2024 class. Warner will likely visit OSU for the Michigan State game next month.

The other 2024 prospect not committed to OSU that's expected to visit is three-star Michigan offensive lineman Gabe VanSickle, a Northwestern commit. Ohio State is still in heavy pursuit of five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, who should visit campus next month, but the Buckeyes would still like to find a replacement for former offensive lineman commit Marc Nave, who decommitted on Sept. 30. VanSickle doesn't hold an offer from the Buckeyes as of yet, but that could change after this weekend.

In the 2025 class, four-star quarterback commit Tavien St. Clair has made it to every home game this season and won’t miss this one either, and this time he’ll be joined by Ohio State’s two newest commits in that class, four-star wide receiver Jayvan Boggs and four-star cornerback Blake Woodby.

“It’s going to be a fun game and a fun visit,” Boggs told Eleven Warriors. “That will be my first actual game that I’ve watched in person and it’s going to be a fun visit seeing the love I get from the fans and staff being a commit and not just a recruit.”

The 2025 class is where the majority of intrigue is among uncommitted prospects, especially with the secondary recruits expected to visit Columbus. Five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez will make his first gameday visit of the fall to OSU and has consistently sported Ohio State gloves this season. 

Joining him will be five-star defensive back Dorian Brew, who moved from Ohio to Texas this fall and attended OSU's first two home games of the year. Five-star safety Jonah Williams, four-star defensive back Trey McNutt and four-star cornerback Mark Zackery are additional high-profile secondary players expected to take in the Penn State game.

Sometimes it can be difficult to predict when exactly a recruit is on commitment watch during the fall, but of this weekend's visitor list, the most likely candidates are two Ohio prospects. Four-star 2025 offensive lineman Carter Lowe has made a handful of visits to OSU this fall and will make yet another one this weekend, while three-star Ohio linebacker Eli Lee is a potential candidate to join the 2025 class after being offered a few weeks ago.

Other names of note making their way to Columbus in the 2025 class include five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (an Alabama commit, but if anyone can make an impression on an already committed prospect it's Brian Hartline), four-star wide receivers Daylan McCutcheon and Naeshaun Montgomery, four-star running backs Byron Louis and Marquise Davis and four-star linebackers Madden Faraimo, Anthony Sacca, Justin Hill and Elijah Melendez.

In the 2026 class, a pair of top Ohio offensive tackle prospects will be in attendance in Maxwell Riley and Sam Greer. Three five-star wide receiver prospects will be on campus from that class alone, with one of them, Chris Henry Jr., already committed to OSU. The other two premier talents making their way to Columbus are Aaron Gregory and Jabari Brady, who will be making his second visit of the fall to OSU. Four-star Maryland safety Jireh Edwards just visited OSU for the Maryland game and now will be making his second trip to Columbus this month.

“That’ll be a great game,” Edwards said. “I grew up watching both of these teams. It’ll be a great game to watch.”

We've compiled a full expected visitor list below. Inevitably, some surprise visitors will probably show up unexpectedly and some currently listed will probably not be able to make it for a variety of reasons, the noon kickoff being one. Some prospects that planned on being in town this weekend could also reschedule their visits to the Nov. 11 primetime contest against Michigan State.

2024 (commits bolded)

2025 (commits bolded)

2026 (commits bolded)

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