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WR Jayden Ballard (transfer to Wisconsin)

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THE HURRY-UP: JAYLEN JOHNSON AND JAYDEN BALLARD’S “FRIENDSHIP IS BIGGER THAN THIS GAME,” BUCKEYES OFFER FLORIDA DT, ARMANI WINFIELD TOP-NINE LIST

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The Hurry-Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.

“OUR FRIENDSHIP IS BIGGER THAN THIS GAME”

In the middle of a heated bout between two teams clawing at their chance to win a coveted state championship, Jayden Ballard walked over to help out a guy he didn’t yet know was going to be his future teammate.

Ballard, whose Massillon Washington team was trailing Cincinnati La Salle in the second half of a 2019 Division II state championship game it would eventually lose 34-17, still took time to go check on La Salle defensive back/linebacker Jaylen Johnson when Johnson went down with a minor injury.

“It all started with me catching a cramp and him coming to help me up. That’s where we started becoming real good friends at, and after that the rest was history,” Johnson told Eleven Warriors.

That interview with us came after Johnson’s La Salle team dropped a heartbreaking 14-10 game to Ballard’s Tigers on Friday night, as Johnson and Co. bowed out of the season in the Division II state semifinals at the hands of the Tigers’ comeback in the final minutes.

The loss mattered to Johnson, obviously. But not when it came to how tight he is with Ballard.

As the Tigers enjoyed the semifinal victory with celebratory pushups, Johnson waited patiently for them to enjoy the moment and wait for Ballard before the two conducted a jersey swap near midfield. It was Part II in the series between the two future Buckeye teammates, with Ballard and Co. exacting a bit of revenge for the 2019 title bout, and it was a culmination of a friendship that really took off last November.

“That’s my guy. He’s always gonna be my guy,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a real good bond. Our friendship is bigger than this game, win or loss. I hope they go win state.

“It all started with the state championship last year and then I committed to Ohio State. We had that Buckeye Bash and we have the Buckeye group chat, and we talk every day so that bond is still there."



Now that his season is over, Johnson wants Ballard’s to get polished off the right way – with the Tigers finally tasting a state championship after reaching the title game for a third consecutive year.

(I want them to) beat Hoban like they did last year,” Johnson said. “They are the best team in Ohio, numbers wise, for every year the past 50 years. So they need the ring. I want them to go get the ring and feel special like me.”

As for what the future holds for the defensive recruit Johnson and offensive recruit Ballard, Johnson says that they talk “almost every day” about what it’s going to be like when they face each other in Ohio State uniforms in practice. It’s an iron-sharpens-iron type of deal that won’t be anything like they have faced at the high school level.

“This doesn’t prepare us for Ohio State,” Johnson said. “Our offensive receivers are deadly. You have to pick your poison.”

Soon enough, Ballard will be part of that poison picking, and he’ll have all the respect in the world from Johnson.

“One thing is he can go deep,” Johnson said. “If he goes deep, you better hope you can jump because if you don’t, you’re gonna be on a highlight reel.”

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...dship-is-bigger-than-this-game-buckeyes-offer
 
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As he heads into his Ohio State career, one the begins the first week of January when he arrives to campus as an early enrollee, Jayden Ballard was excited to hear about the fact that the receivers room would be growing with the commitment of fellow high-end recruit Emeka Egbuka.

In an interview with Eleven Warriors a few days prior to his signing, Ballard talked briefly about what it was going to be like to be in the same position group as six other players ranked in the top 100 overall.

“That’ll be pretty dangerous. I’m just trying to compete,” Ballard said. “(Marvin’s) kind of a guy that does all the routes and opens up his route tree more, and he can track the ball like I can, too. He’s a great receiver as well. (Emeka’s) a deep-threat receiver, too. He opens up his route tree as well.”

As for what Ballard brings to the table, he says that he has “great ball skills, I can track the ball and get it at the highest point,” and those are just some of the traits that had Brian Hartline dying to make him a Buckeye during the recruiting process.

And speaking of Hartline, that’s a relationship that continues to stand on firm ground throughout the years, and Ballard is ready to get coached up by one of the nation’s top assistants.

“(Our relationship is) really strong. I’ve known him for a while. And now that he’s the receivers coach, it’s gotten even stronger,” Ballard said. “My dad always pushed me so I’m used to (how Hartline will coach). I’m used to getting pushed so that helps. (He’s) no B.S. and will push me hard.”

While the vast majority of Ballard’s athletic focus over the next two weeks is preparing for his descent on the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, that’s not stopping him from getting in some final minutes on the basketball court. It’s a sport that he absolutely would have been a collegiate scholarship athlete in had he pursued it as a career instead of football.

Just a few days before he signed his national letter of intent, Ballard took a few minutes to talk with us about the upcoming signing. Following that Friday afternoon interview, Ballard said he was set to play in Massillon Washington’s season opener against Ashland as he’s “getting in a few games before Ohio State.”



In that opener, Ballard poured in a team-high 16 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in a 78-73 loss.

Through four games, Ballard is averaging 14.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals, which includes a pair of double-doubles, one of which came against Ben Christman’s Revere Minutemen (though Christman is not playing prior to enrolling early himself)

 
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Here is our interview with Ballard, followed by some vital statistics as well as some video highlights.

Q: You committed to Ohio state in June before your junior year. What was it about Ohio State that really swung it where you knew that far ahead of time that’s where you wanted to be?

Ballard: “The atmosphere felt like home and I had good bonds with the coaches.”

Q: You come from Massillon one of the best high school football programs in the country and they had a player Devin Smith who played at Ohio State on the national championship team. Some people compare you to him with your game breaking ability. What do you think about that and have you had a chance to talk to him about what it was like to play at Ohio State?

Ballard: “I think it’s pretty cool that they compare me to him because he had a great career at Ohio State. I have not had a chance to talk to him.”

Q: How do you describe yourself as a wide receiver what sets you apart?

Ballard: “I have great ball tracking skills and run great routes.”

Q: The last year was difficult on everybody how did you get through that? Working out on your own and how did you feel your senior year went with obviously getting to the state championship game?

Ballard: “I think it was difficult because we couldn’t have the same crowd we usually have. But we were lucky enough to have a good last season.”

Q: How instrumental was Brian Hartline in your recruitment. He’s from your area there in Canton and has already got a track record of putting guys in the NFL. What do you think it will be like to work with him?

Ballard: “I really like Coach Hart and I think he will give me a lot of good advice. I know he will make me a great player.”
 
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thackattack said:
I believe they arrived on campus / enrolled in classes and joined team activities, but I could be wrong.
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He early enrolled back in January. Hopefully just a case of wanting to remind how deep we are loaded at WR. But when I see random bumps in the offseason it always makes me worry.
 
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There are a lot of guys like that at OSU or they wouldn't have been recruited in the 1st place. It's about opportunity. Being at the right place at the right time. I'm sure if he gets an opportunity he will shine, but is that opportunity going to come? Who you taking off the field?
 
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mendensa said:
There are a lot of guys like that at OSU or they wouldn't have been recruited in the 1st place. It's about opportunity. Being at the right place at the right time. I'm sure if he gets an opportunity he will shine, but is that opportunity going to come? Who you taking off the field?
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This!
As talented as he may be, don’t see pushing JSN, MHjr, Fleming or Egbuka off the field unless there’s an injury. And then he’s also fighting a finally healthy Kamryn Babb, and another class of very talented frosh WRs
 
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