Ohio State football’s C.J. Hicks loses black stripe

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The expectations are excessive for what C.J. Hicks’ Ohio State soccer profession might appear like, and he took step one in that route.

The freshman linebacker grew to become the most recent participant to lose his black stripe, making him an “official Buckeye,” becoming a member of linebacker Chip Trayanum and cornerback Jyaire Brown. Total he’s the sixth participant to take action, with three carrying out that feat within the spring.

The nation’s No. 7 participant and prime linebacker was the lone five-star within the Buckeyes recruiting class.

He joins a linebacker room below new management in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. There’s loads of depth by way of choices, however that doesn’t imply Hicks gained’t proceed to climb up the depth chart because the season continues. He arrives with tons of potential and has taken little time to begin tapping into it since arriving in January.

“Whenever you’re a freshman, and also you got here in the summertime 5, 10 years in the past, it’s loads totally different than while you are available in January like he did,” Day mentioned. “Had a full spring below his belt (and) a full summer time. Now while you take a look at him, he nearly appears like he’s one of many guys who’s been round for some time. That’s good.”

Hicks shortly grew to become a category chief, incomes the nickname “Captain Buckeye” alongside the best way. Now that he’s earned the excellence of being “an official Buckeye,” he can start the method of residing as much as the hype that he arrived with.

“That’s a man, for instance, that’s gonna be enjoyable to go watch play,” Day mentioned. “You don’t consider him as a freshman anymore. Not less than we don’t. As we get into preseason camp, hopefully, he’s taking the subsequent step.”

To see our full black stripe tracker, click on right here.

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