Two weeks ago, we detailed the main remaining positional needs in the 2022 class, after the Buckeyes captured 10 of the country’s greatest talents in the cycle.
We also took a look at the first 10 targets left in the class last week, which is a list full of five-star stars, top-tier players and guys in an underrated skill position.
But who are the most likely prospects in the 2022 cycle to commit to the Buckeyes next? We try to predict who is likely to be next in the class. As a big caveat, many of these potential appointments (and anyone not on this list) depend largely on whether or not the player can go to campus for a visit in the spring or summer.
In no particular order, except for that first guy …
Kyion Grayes
We spent a lot of time discussing Grayes’ big visit this weekend and the likelihood that he would commit to the Buckeyes. In fact, we would be shocked if that didn’t happen, so let’s not hit a dead horse here.
Ohio State already has five-star Caleb Burton in the squad, and if they add Grayes, it will give Brian Hartline a fantastic pair to start the class. (And it only increases the way the Buckeyes have stacked the position of the wide receiver in the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 cycles).
Kojo Antwi is the next prime-time player the Buckeyes will be working on, although I have long said that it will be very difficult for them to get him out of the SEC country, as Georgia also has a big advantage over him. Kaleb Brown and CJ Williams are two other main targets.
Damari Alston
Georgia’s four-star running back is very upset (and rightly so) that visits (of the non-self-guided type) have once again been postponed until at least June 1st. He would probably visit Columbus on the weekend of April 16 in what was being created to be Buckeye Bash 2.0 led by CJ Hicks / Dasan McCullough (our nickname for him, patent pending). This visit would have contributed greatly to his potential commitment to the state of Ohio. Woe is me.
It is likely that Alston will still visit before making his decision, but now he will have to take a self-guided tour of the state of Ohio or any other campus he chooses if he wants to visit in the spring. I hope he postpones the decision until after June 1, but if he goes up to Columbus in the next two or three months, he would place a personal Crystal Ball for Tony Alford to win one of his best targets in the position.
Austin Jordan
Jordan, a four-star cornerback in the 2022 class of the powerful Ryan High School of Texas, recently placed the Buckeyes in their top 10.
TOP 10 (100% open recruitment) @VisualsWinning pic.twitter.com/6OSHqVPKlR
– Austin Jordan (@ezmoneyaust) February 15, 2021
I think the state of Ohio will be waiting for Jordan to show them a little more with his offseason tape and his senior season tape and to get to know him more. But I think the state of Ohio is near the top of Jordan’s list, and with the Buckeyes apparently out of the running for Will Johnson and Denver Harris, maybe they’ll put more effort into Jordan and two other curves I love in this class at Toriano Pride and Ryan Turner.
Christen Miller
Like Antwi, gaining this perspective on the Peach State will be difficult for Buckeyes, especially since they arrived late with an offer. That said, Cedar Grove’s (Georgia) four-star defensive tackle placed Larry Johnson and Co. on a final list of schools that made it into the top four before he reached the top five to include Ohio.
Crafts 1%
@BrooksAustinSI pic.twitter.com/su2MhqbiMK– Christen Miller (@ Trenchking2) February 18, 2021
I am putting Miller on this list in part because he is the only one of those five who has a public engagement date, and that date (April 4) is fast approaching. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to postpone this to give the state of Ohio more time to build a relationship with him and make a few more visits. The Bulldogs remain in the driver’s seat, but we’ll see if Day, Johnson and the recruiter from the Al Washington area can make a big, quick move here.
Aliou Bah
Rumors are that the offensive attack by three stars of the IMG (Florida) Academy – which recently moved to Buckeye’s alma mater Bradenton hub in Cormontae Hamilton, Whitehaven (Memphis) – is looking to lock its name in the class. But there may be some delays before the visits take place.
If Bah adds “Buckeye’s Pledge” next to his name, that would give Greg Studrawa and Kennedy Cook a massive player (6 ft-6, 325 pounds) to add to the fold in the program’s greatest remaining need in the class. He would also be a type of developing customer, though, and the Buckeyes will still need to add a top-level guy to the position. It starts with Kiyaunta Goodwin and continues with guys like Zach Rice and Kam Dewberry.
Bonus: Luke Montgomery, Brenan Vernon
Sonny Styles of Pickerington Central is not on this list because I think there is more work to be done there than with other major players from Ohio, Montgomery and Vernon, in the 2023 class.
But the prospect of the Findlay offensive line, Montgomery, a likely Top 150 player (the top 150 would be at the bottom end considering his enormous potential), and Vernon, a surefire five-star defensive line from Mentor, seem stuck at this point will end up like Buckeyes . Somewhere along the road, of course.
“I love the state of Ohio,” said Montgomery Eleven Warriors right after Ohio’s offer last week. “Coach Stud, he grew up playing 20 minutes away from me at Fostoria. I was born in Columbus. I lived there for about a year and still have a family in Columbus. I am super familiar with the area. I go there a lot and I love the campus and, obviously, academics are very important there too. ”
Vernon, for his part, compares to Nick Bosa and should be next in the long line of stud defensive ends to be developed by Johnson. Once again, as with the five-star Jack Sawyer of Pickerington North in the 2021 cycle, the Buckeyes have a first-rate defensive side in their backyard, who grew up loving scarlet and gray.
Ohio has an absolutely charged defensive class in 2023, led by the potential five-star safety Styles, Vernon and the four-star linebacker / safety Trevor Carter of Ironton. Montgomery would be included in that group, too, if he wanted to stay with the final defensive position he starred for Findlay before a move to offensive attack this offseason.
Anyway, Montgomery and Vernon will eventually (in my prediction) give the state of Ohio a tremendous double in the state, and if the Buckeyes add Styles to that group, then there will be absolutely no dropout for the program in terms of talent recruitment state lines in the 2021 and 2022 classes.