COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State wrapped up its final round of official visitors for the summer and now the football recruiting cycle shifts from visit season to commitment season.
The Buckeyes have already gotten started with three commits this month in four-star safety Jaylen McClain, four-star cornerback Bryce West and four-star tight end Damarion Witten. That’s three wins so far out of the 31 players who took June official visits who weren’t already committed to them.
But they’re not even close to being done putting together a class that currently holds 16 players and sits behind only Georgia in the recruiting rankings. Before the fireworks of the next month take off, it’s time to predict the rest of what might be the largest class of the Ryan Day era.
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In this first-class prediction, I’m giving OSU 26 players for a total of 314.15 points, according to 24sports.com, and an average star rating of 93.88.
That would surpass the 25 players signed in the 2025 class. It would also be the second-high point total behind the 2021 class (321.78) — the third time going over 300 points — and the third-highest average star rating behind the 2021 (95.05) and 2022 (93.89) classes.
The 10 additions to this class would include two five-stars and three other top-100 recruits. The other six are four-star recruits ranging from No. 143 to No. 420 nationally. The bulk of these additions will be on defense.
Here’s a prediction for Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class: (To see Ohio State’s current 2024 recruiting class, click here.)
| Player, Position |
School |
Rank (Pos.) |
Rating |
Stars |
| Jeremiah Smith, WR |
Chaminade Madonna (FL) |
No. 2 (No. 1) |
0.9986 |
5-Star |
| KJ Bolden, SAF |
Buford (GA) |
No. 7 (No. 1) |
0.9963 |
5-Star |
| Eddrick Houston, DL |
Buford (GA) |
No. 19 (No. 4) |
0.9895 |
5-Star |
| Mylan Graham, WR |
New Haven (IN) |
No. 20 (No. 6) |
0.9894 |
5-Star |
| Air Noland, QB |
Langston Hughes (GA) |
No. 37 (No. 5) |
0.9815 |
4-Star |
| Bryce West, CB |
Glenville (OH) |
No. 49 (No. 4) |
0.9746 |
4-Star |
| Guerby Lambert, OT |
Catholic Memorial (MA) |
No. 50 (No. 2) |
0.9741 |
4-Star |
| Aaron Scott, CB |
Springfield (OH) |
No. 53 (No. 5) |
0.9725 |
4-Star |
| Marquise Lightfoot, EDGE |
Kenwood Academy (IL) |
No. 70 (No. 6) |
0.9626 |
4-Star |
| James Peoples, RB |
Veterans Memorial (TX) |
No. 79 (No. 5) |
0.9593 |
4-Star |
| Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, LB |
St. John Bosco (CA) |
No. 100 (No. 7) |
0.9510 |
4-Star |
| Ian Moore, IOL |
New Palestine (IN) |
No. 118 (No. 7) |
0.9459 |
4-Star |
| Garrett Stover, LB |
Big Walnut (OH) |
No. 140 (No. 12) |
0.9398 |
4-Star |
| Jeremiah McClellan, WR |
Christian Brothers College (MO) |
No. 143 (No. 20) |
0.9388 |
4-Star |
| Jordan Lyle, RB |
St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) |
No. 169 (No. 12) |
0.9319 |
4-Star |
| Payton Pierce, LB |
Lovejoy (TX) |
No. 170 (No. 16) |
0.9317 |
4-Star |
| Jaylen McClain, SAF |
Seton Hall Prep (NJ) |
No. 241 (No. 20) |
0.9146 |
4-Star |
| Max LeBlanc, TE |
Baylor School (TN) |
No. 272 (No. 14) |
0.9100 |
4-Star |
| Terhyon Nichols, CB |
Withrow (OH) |
No. 284 (No. 23 |
0.9073 |
4-Star |
| Deontae Armstrong, OT |
St. Edwards (OH) |
No. 327 (No. 29) |
0.9015 |
4-Star |
| Damarion Witten, TE |
Glenville (OH) |
No. 8 (No. 1) |
0.8986 |
4-Star |
| Devontae Armstrong, IOL |
St. Edwards (OH) |
No. 353 (No. 20) |
0.8982 |
4-Star |
| Miles Lockhart, CB |
Basha (AZ) |
No. 356 (No. 31) |
0.8978 |
4-Star |
| Jayden Jackson, DL |
IMG Academy (FL) |
No. 420 (No. 43) |
0.8916 |
4-Star |
| Marc Nave, IOL |
Central Catholic (OH) |
No. 624 (No. 40) |
0.8793 |
3-Star |
| Sam Williams Dixon, ATH |
Pickerington North (OH) |
No. 731 (No. 76) |
0.8744 |
3-Star |
Offensive notes
Ohio State did its work early on offense, so its summer additions are about finishing touches. That starts on the offensive line where I think OSU goes 1-for-2 on its final prospects landing Guerby Lambert while losing out on four-star Brandon Baker. It’s hard to envision a kid from California’s Mater Dei High School committing to OSU until it actually happens.
Then Jeremiah McClellan finally joins as the final wide receiver. There was a point where there would’ve been a fourth wide receiver in four-star Elijah Moore. But his recent trip to Florida State seems to have shifted his thought process on where he’d like to call home.
Defensive notes
Safeties coach Perry Eliano could use a big splash in this cycle. Plus what’s a prediction article without taking a few swings at some five-star long shots?
KJ Bolden is this year’s Caleb Downs as the five-star safety living in SEC country that Eliano spent the entire year fighting for. Some positive vibes came out of Bolden’s official visit, but the same can be said of his Georgia visit. This is a heavyweight fight for the 2024 cycle, I’ll go out on a ledge saying it’s one Eliano can win.
Aaron Scott sat inside the Woody Athletic Facility this past weekend and watched cornerbacks coach Tim Walton complete part of his in-state goals for the 2024 class. Now all eyes are on the four-star defensive back. I’m still predicting him to pick the Buckeyes over Michigan and Oregon, but I’m not doing so with the highest level of confidence. Terhyon Nichols would complete that in-state trio of cornerbacks even if his recruitment is still a ways from being over.
Miles Lockhart is the only non-committed cornerback who gets a high level of confidence with where things stand. The four-star’s official visit felt like more of a punctuation than another step in his process, and his July 6 commitment date will bring to a close a recruitment that has been trending toward OSU since at least January and maybe even longer.
Eddrick Houston, DL, has a commitment date set for Aug. 22 which means we’re still a full month away from finding out if Ohio State can land this five-star, but the initial returns are positive. OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson has slowly built up momentum all spring and took that to another level with a quality official visit. Now the only questions are whether it’s enough to hold off the likes of Alabama, Clemson and Georgia and if he holds firm on that date or chooses to move it up. Marquise Lightfoot and Jayden Jackson complete what would be a class small in names but high in quality.
I left five-star Dylan Stewart off because this just feels like a race South Carolina is destined to win. What could turn this into a four-man group in someone like Arkansas four-star commit Charleston Collins (No. 124 player, No. 18 defensive lineman), whom Johnson has been working on in the background hoping to get him to Columbus in the fall.
Then there’s four-star Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa as Ohio State’s final 2024 linebacker, beating out Notre Dame and USC. USC becomes a bigger threat to this should his high school teammate and four-star safety Peyton Woodyard flip from Georgia to USC which is becoming much more of a possibility by the day. But if Viliamu-Asa still chooses to leave home, I’m predicting it’ll be for Columbus.
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