Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t ready to make any declarations about what his next step will be, but he is planning to participate in Ohio State’s bowl practices.
The Ohio State wide receiver told Big Ten Network on Wednesday that he’s waiting to “see how the rest of this year plays out” before making any decisions about his future, but said he is excited to go through bowl practices with his teammates.
“Just sticking with one another, getting better during bowl prep,” Harrison said when asked what he’s looking forward to for the rest of this season. “I always look forward to bowl practices, they're always super exciting. Kind of gets the spring ball vibe again and you’re not really game-planning for a team just yet, but I definitely look forward to going out there and competing against our defense, who’s been great all year.”
Harrison may have perked up the ears of Buckeye fans when he told Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine that “we’ll see what happens next year” when answering a question about Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan and how he’s absorbing that loss, which prevented him from achieving his stated goals for this season of winning the rivalry game and going to the Big Ten Championship Game.
“Obviously, it's disappointing,” Harrison said in the first televised interview by any Buckeye since Ohio State returned from Ann Arbor. “Third year in a row, to come up short against those guys, and obviously my biggest goal this year was to beat them and make it to the Big Ten championship, and unfortunately that didn’t happen. But we’ll see what happens next year.”
When Revsine followed up and asked Harrison if that meant he was considering staying at Ohio State for his senior season, however, Harrison said only that he has not made any decision yet.
“I have not decided on anything just yet. Just taking it one day at a time right now and see how the rest of this year plays out,” Harrison said. “Really, it starts with how the rest of this year plays out, and then I’ll get with my family and we'll go from there.”
Realistically, it would be a stunner if Harrison didn’t enter the 2024 NFL draft. He’s a projected top-five overall pick who could potentially even be the No. 1 overall pick, and he looked like someone who had played his final game at Ohio Stadium when he took a moment of reflection as he walked off the field following Ohio State’s Senior Day win over Minnesota.
Leaving the Shoe as one of the all-time greats. pic.twitter.com/my2XLD2PAo
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 19, 2023
“Not for certain, but it could have been my last time in Ohio Stadium,” Harrison said when asked last week about that moment. “Just looking back on everything, I didn’t expect to accomplish as much as I did in my career here. It's not exactly over yet, but it was a definitely special moment, a special place, to play in front of those fans each and every Saturday. It’s definitely something I’m going to miss.”
The bigger question is whether Harrison will play in Ohio State’s bowl game if the Buckeyes don’t make the College Football Playoff, as it’s become fairly common for projected top draft prospects to opt out of non-playoff bowl games to preserve their health. But that’s not a decision Harrison needs to make until he knows what bowl game Ohio State will be playing in.
“I always look forward to bowl practices, they're always super exciting. Kind of gets the spring ball vibe again.”– Marvin Harrison Jr.
For now, Harrison remains committed to the Buckeyes as they hold out hope for a playoff berth. Regardless of what happens next, he’ll cherish the bonds he’s built with his Ohio State teammates over the last three years.
“Just the brotherhood that we have, really,” Harrison said Wednesday when asked what he’s most proud of with this year’s team. “Coming into college, you had a set group of friends, and then just seeing how that expands to all the groups of positions. From the runningbacks to the DBs to D-linemen to linebackers, just how you all came together throughout the whole season and stuck with one another. That’s probably the thing I'm most proud about.”
