Whether it was deeper conversations with the coaching staff, developing rapport with future teammates or figuring out tricks to improve his game while he’s still in high school, the four-star safety prospect enjoyed and gained knowledge from the trip.

“They created me a little logo. I approved of it, I liked it,” Stewart told Eleven Warriors. “There’s some changes that are going to be made to it. Getting to that, getting around the coaches more, spending time, getting to the playbook. Seeing how we’re feeling in the defense, like what spots will be open after this year, who’s leaving, who’s staying. Getting around the players, seeing life outside of football, how they act, personalities and all that. It was all cool throughout the weekend.”

BIA
Its Not A Slogan pic.twitter.com/5AVlJqLXIo

— Deshawn Stewart (@shawnstewartjr) June 2, 2024

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Stewart put up strong numbers last season for DePaul Catholic in Wayne, New Jersey, which is also home to Ohio State four-star wide receiver commit De’zie Jones. He racked up 56 tackles and 19 pass deflections out of the defensive backfield in 2023.

Ranked 295th overall and 26th at safety for the 2025 class in the 247Sports composite, Stewart is still searching for ways to hone his craft, however. He got some one-on-one time with his future safeties coach Matt Guerrieri on that topic in particular.

“It was great,” Stewart said. “We went over film, like my film and Ohio State’s film, and compared it to each other and showed what I would be doing in drills and stuff, showing how it translates to the field. He taught me a lot throughout the process.”

Guerrieri’s advice about tackling stuck with Stewart in particular. That’s something he’ll need to dive into deeper as he transitions positions at the next level.

“He showed me the way they tackle up there compared to the high school level, different teachings, alignments with the safeties and stuff because I play corner in high school,” Stewart said. “So it was different looking at it from a corner standpoint, (how) safeties line up and how they play with their eyes, so I’ll definitely transfer that over (to my game).”

Stewart also got a chance to sit down with defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who encouraged him to enroll early and get a head start on his development process.

Cornerback Davison Igbinosun played host to Stewart on the visit and the former Ole Miss rebel didn’t sugarcoat the level of competition Stewart will walk into at Ohio State. With Brian Hartline’s continued churning of elite talent at wide receiver, there will be no shortage of iron-sharpening competition.

“(Igbinosun) told me nothing is given, everything is earned here, that you’ve got to come in with that mentality and live with that edge on your shoulder, because you’re going to go against the best of the best every day,” Stewart said. “He also told me how Coach (Tim Walton) is like, the realest in the game, he’s going to tell you straight up.”

“You’ve got to come in with that mentality and live with that edge on your shoulder, because you’re going to go against the best of the best every day.”– DeShawn Stewart

While connecting with current players like Igbinosun, Stewart also bonded with some 2025 classmates. Fellow Buckeye commit and linebacker Tarvos Alford was also on campus for an official visit.

“It was great, man. We had some nice laughs,” Stewart said. “We went out, we ate, had dinner, and the vibe was good. No weirdness going on. We already knew each other, so I look forward to spending more time with them when I get up there.”

While there Stewart and Alford got a chance to get in some peer recruiting of two top 100 defensive prospects in edge Justin Hill and linebacker Riley Pettijohn.

“I spent a lot of time with Justin, so while being around him, I tried to throw little hints out there, a couple little jokes to get him to try to commit,” Stewart said. “I think he’s taking his time right now but he knows what it is.”

RELATED Daylan McCutcheon Says Ohio State is “At the Top” After Official Visit

Stewart said he plans to take no other visits this summer, a sign that he remains fully locked in with OSU. He plans on returning to Columbus for The Game on Nov. 30.

He’s bought into what he and his classmates can achieve, a group that stands less than eight points behind Notre Dame for the No. 1 class in the composite team rankings despite having eight fewer commits.

“This class will definitely be capable of a national championship, for sure,” Stewart said. “Add in everybody you had in the previous class, the ‘24 class, it will definitely be one of the top classes to ever come to Ohio State, which I believe and all the coaches believe.”

OHIO (WSAZ) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted are tackling the issue of cell phone usage during school hours. Before the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, all schools in the state of Ohio will be required to have a policy that addresses cell phone usage.

Husted says students could benefit from an elimination of cell phone usage during school hours.

“We don’t want to see it in high school, junior high, or grade schools. There is no place for smart phones to dominate the school landscape,” Husted said. “The good news is that many school districts have already done this, and they’ve given us strong evidence about how helpful this is.”

The state recently sent out a model cell phone policy to all school districts. The policy can be adopted in its entirety or school districts can amend it to fit the specific needs of their students and parents.

Ohio’s model policy says students shall keep their cell phones in a secure place, such as the student’s locker, a closed backpack, or a storage device provided by the district. The policy also includes steps for disciplinary action if a student does not comply with the policy.

– Give the student a verbal warning and require the student to store the student’s cell phone in accordance with this policy.

– Securely store the student’s cell phone in a teacher- or administrator-controlled locker, bin, or drawer for the duration of the class or period.

– Place the student’s cell phone in the school’s central office for the remainder of the school day.

– Place the student’s cell phone in the school’s central office to be picked up by the student’s parent or guardian.

– Schedule a conference with the student’s parent or guardian to discuss the student’s cell phone use.

“No parents want to have the burden to tell their child ‘no’ when other parents are telling their children ‘yes.’ No child wants to be left out when other children have it. But when you say, ‘Hey, 8:00 to 3:00, we’re going to have a smart phone free zone,’ everybody buys in and it works really well,” Husted said. “When you talk to educator who have banned cell phones in schools, what they’ve found is that they’ve seen academic performance go up, they see disciplinary issues go down such as bullying and fighting. Overall school culture improves where kids are talking to one another, lunch rooms are loud again and we’re really developing the kind of school interactions that you’re supposed to have.”

Copyright 2024 WSAZ. All rights reserved.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – The former NASCAR Cup Series winner Ken Schrader isn’t shy about giving back to the fans.

Customers at Fisher Auto Parts had the opportunity on Tuesday afternoon to have the chance at the driving experience.

People participating had the chance to drive one of Schrader’s modified cars around the Ohio Valley Speedway in Parkersburg with a small crowd watching on.

Schrader said that this experience has been going on for the last decade.

“We’ve done this for basically the last ten years,” Schrader said. “We’ve been all over the United States and up into Canada. We’ve done it as many as 60 days a year. I think this year we’re scheduled to do about 35 days.

To go along with the experience, people also got to ride along with Schrader in his two seater modified around the dirt track.

This event is apart of Schrader’s 25th anniversary with Federated Auto Parts as his sponsor.

Schrader adds that, apart from the experience, it’s also about going to new places.

“It’s a lot of fun to get out especially go to the places you haven’t been to before,” Schrader added.

Schrader does these experience events along with still racing part-time. At 69 years old, Schrader doesn’t have any regrets of stopping.

“We already ran 24 races.” he said. “I’m going to keep doing this as long as I can cause I’m having as much fun as I ever had.”

Copyright 2024 WTAP. All rights reserved.