Gene Ross
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Ohio State has BOOOOMing weekend, landing Aaron Scott Jr. and Chris Henry Jr.
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State CB commit Aaron Scott Jr. | via @AaronScottJr1 on Twitter
The Buckeyes land two major recruiting targets over the weekend.
Already expected to be a major recruiting weekend for Ohio State, the Buckeyes landed a pair of huge commitments between Friday and Sunday, including their top remaining target at cornerback in the 2024 class and a 2026 wide receiver that could be one of the best in the country.
The highly anticipated commitment of Aaron Scott Jr. was finally announced on Sunday afternoon. While Oregon was technically in the mix, this was really a battle between Ohio State and Michigan for quite some time. For a moment during the announcement, it looked like the Wolverines had snagged the Cincinnati native away from the in-state Buckeyes, as TTUN gear was the last school remaining on the table. Then, with a UM backpack in hand, Scott Jr. opened it to reveal an Ohio State jersey, making his commitment to OSU official.
In Scott, Ohio State adds the No. 5 corner and No. 52 overall player in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite. This was clearly a true neck-and-neck battle between Big Ten rivals, and the Buckeyes winning out in the end is massive for Ryan Day and position coach Tim Walton. Day has continued the Urban Meyer focus on keeping Ohio’s best at home, and landing a player of Scott’s caliber from within your own state borders, especially when your biggest competition was TTUN, is an absolute must.
On top of the important of this recruiting win, the Buckeyes are obviously also adding a tremendous player to their recruiting class. Here is what 247Sports’ Gabe Brooks had to say of Scott’s abilities:
The commitment of Scott gives Ohio State five total defensive back commitments in this cycle, including the top two players in Ohio in Bryce West and Scott — an incredible home grown lockdown combo that fans should be excited to see in Columbus in the near future. Now with 19 total players in the fold, the Buckeyes remain behind only Georgia as the No. 2 class in the country, with the Bulldogs at 310.25 points (25 commits) to OSU’s 289.35.
Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton has caught a lock of flack online for the play of Ohio State’s corners, and rightfully so, but it’s hard to argue about what has been done on the recruiting trail of late. In addition to Scott and West, the Buckeyes also landed a pair of high four-star guys in 2023 in Jermaine Mathews and Calvin Simpson-Hunt, in addition to bringing in transfer Davison Igbinosun from Ole Miss this offseason. The coverage on the field still has to be better, but Walton has at least done a good job of getting talent to Columbus.
On the other side of the ball — and much further down the road — Ohio State picked up a bit of a surprise commitment earlier in the weekend, as 2026 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. announced he was committing to the Buckeyes on Friday night.
Henry Jr., the son of the late NFL receiver and the adopted son of former NFL corner Adam “Pacman” Jones, hails out of Withrow University High School in Cincinnati. Offered by Brian Hartline back in June of 2022 ahead of his freshman year, the 6-foot-5 pass-catcher was already someone that was going to be on Ohio State’s radar over the next few years, but he has seen enough to pull the trigger this early in the process.
“When I watch Ohio State, and I watch Marv, Jeremiah and stuff like that, I can see myself in that position,” Henry told The Columbus Dispatch in June.
“The atmosphere. It’s the coaches, really. That’s really what it was, the coaches,“ Henry told reporters following his commitment. “I love it here. I love the energy and the atmosphere. I love everything about it. They make me feel like a priority every time I talk to them. And so that just makes me feel special.”
While the 2026 class does not yet have recruiting rankings, many experts believe Henry Jr. will be a five-star prospect when the time comes and likely one of the top players in the class overall. With 24 offers to his name as just a high school sophomore, Ohio State obviously wasn’t the only one to recognize his immense talent, but they are now the beneficiaries of locking him in long in advance.
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Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State CB commit Aaron Scott Jr. | via @AaronScottJr1 on Twitter
The Buckeyes land two major recruiting targets over the weekend.
Already expected to be a major recruiting weekend for Ohio State, the Buckeyes landed a pair of huge commitments between Friday and Sunday, including their top remaining target at cornerback in the 2024 class and a 2026 wide receiver that could be one of the best in the country.
The highly anticipated commitment of Aaron Scott Jr. was finally announced on Sunday afternoon. While Oregon was technically in the mix, this was really a battle between Ohio State and Michigan for quite some time. For a moment during the announcement, it looked like the Wolverines had snagged the Cincinnati native away from the in-state Buckeyes, as TTUN gear was the last school remaining on the table. Then, with a UM backpack in hand, Scott Jr. opened it to reveal an Ohio State jersey, making his commitment to OSU official.
In Scott, Ohio State adds the No. 5 corner and No. 52 overall player in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite. This was clearly a true neck-and-neck battle between Big Ten rivals, and the Buckeyes winning out in the end is massive for Ryan Day and position coach Tim Walton. Day has continued the Urban Meyer focus on keeping Ohio’s best at home, and landing a player of Scott’s caliber from within your own state borders, especially when your biggest competition was TTUN, is an absolute must.
On top of the important of this recruiting win, the Buckeyes are obviously also adding a tremendous player to their recruiting class. Here is what 247Sports’ Gabe Brooks had to say of Scott’s abilities:
The commitment of Scott gives Ohio State five total defensive back commitments in this cycle, including the top two players in Ohio in Bryce West and Scott — an incredible home grown lockdown combo that fans should be excited to see in Columbus in the near future. Now with 19 total players in the fold, the Buckeyes remain behind only Georgia as the No. 2 class in the country, with the Bulldogs at 310.25 points (25 commits) to OSU’s 289.35.
Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton has caught a lock of flack online for the play of Ohio State’s corners, and rightfully so, but it’s hard to argue about what has been done on the recruiting trail of late. In addition to Scott and West, the Buckeyes also landed a pair of high four-star guys in 2023 in Jermaine Mathews and Calvin Simpson-Hunt, in addition to bringing in transfer Davison Igbinosun from Ole Miss this offseason. The coverage on the field still has to be better, but Walton has at least done a good job of getting talent to Columbus.
On the other side of the ball — and much further down the road — Ohio State picked up a bit of a surprise commitment earlier in the weekend, as 2026 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. announced he was committing to the Buckeyes on Friday night.
Henry Jr., the son of the late NFL receiver and the adopted son of former NFL corner Adam “Pacman” Jones, hails out of Withrow University High School in Cincinnati. Offered by Brian Hartline back in June of 2022 ahead of his freshman year, the 6-foot-5 pass-catcher was already someone that was going to be on Ohio State’s radar over the next few years, but he has seen enough to pull the trigger this early in the process.
“When I watch Ohio State, and I watch Marv, Jeremiah and stuff like that, I can see myself in that position,” Henry told The Columbus Dispatch in June.
“The atmosphere. It’s the coaches, really. That’s really what it was, the coaches,“ Henry told reporters following his commitment. “I love it here. I love the energy and the atmosphere. I love everything about it. They make me feel like a priority every time I talk to them. And so that just makes me feel special.”
While the 2026 class does not yet have recruiting rankings, many experts believe Henry Jr. will be a five-star prospect when the time comes and likely one of the top players in the class overall. With 24 offers to his name as just a high school sophomore, Ohio State obviously wasn’t the only one to recognize his immense talent, but they are now the beneficiaries of locking him in long in advance.
Quick Hits
- One of the attendees of this past weekend’s SummerFest event, four-star 2025 offensive lineman Rowan Byrne came away with an Ohio State offer. A native of New Rochelle, NY, Byrne is listed as a tackle at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds as a high school junior. The Iona Prep product has 20 total offers to his name thus far, including the likes of Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin and now the Buckeyes, so clearly Byrne will be a prospect ranked rather high when the time comes based on all the interest from major programs.
After a great visit @OhioStateFB and a great conversation with @ryandaytime and @CoachJFrye I’m excited to say I’ve earned an offer to THE Ohio State University!! @Joespags12 @ionafootball @CoachMoffitt @CoachSollenne @RivalsFriedman @adamgorney @EdOBrienCFB @SWiltfong247 pic.twitter.com/aPFAVmjSEA
— Rowan Byrne 4️ (@RowanByrne6) July 28, 2023
- It wasn’t all positive news on the recruiting trail this weekend for Ohio State, as five-star 2025 DB Jontae Gilbert de-committed from the Buckeyes on Saturday. It was a bit of a surprise when the Georgia native first committed to the program, and so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that this one didn’t stick with so much time left in his recruitment. Gilbert initially committed to Ohio State exactly a year before his de-commitment.
- Ohio State made another addition to its 2023 roster over the weekend, bringing in punter Joe McGuire. The Australian joins the Buckeyes as a preferred walk-on, and will look to be the team’s next starting following Jesse Mirco.
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