Ohio State makes offer to 5-star defensive end

It was a busy Wednesday on the recruiting trail for the Ohio State Buckeyes. On the football side, some offers went out, with a five-star getting the coveted Scarlet and Gray offer. And on the men’s basketball side, a five-star offer went out, too. Let’s take a look at all that went down.

In the middle of it

Defensive end Chris Braswell (Baltimore, St. Frances Academy) holds a five-star composite rating by 247sports, and is one of the most sought after recruits in the country. A member of the 2020 recruiting class, he is graded as the 19th best overall prospect, top weak-side DE, and the No. 2 recruit from the state of Maryland.

He has over 20 offers, with the likes of Alabama and Georgia already in the hunt for his recruitment. On Wednesday, Braswell added another school to his growing list, as Ohio State made their offer known.

According to 247sports, Braswell made an unofficial visit to Penn State last Saturday, and ended up seeing OSU win. For the 6-foot-3, 211-pound defender, three early votes on the 247sports crystal ball has Alabama as the early favorite, but a lot can happen from now until 2020.

Braswell wasn’t the only member from the ‘20 cycle to make an OSU offer known on Wednesday, though. Three-star strong-side DE Braiden McGregor (Port Huron, MI / Port Huron Northern) let the world know of his Scarlet and Gray offer Wednesday morning.

Like Braswell, a slew of schools have already come knocking. Since he’s a Michigan native, it’s not a surprise that the likes of the Michigan Wolverines and Central Michigan have reached out to him. However, none of those schools are perceived to be the leader right now for his recruitment. Receiving three of five votes on the crystal ball, Notre Dame is thought to be in the lead for McGregor.

The question now is how much will this OSU offer influence his recruiting? Back in June, McGregor camped with Ohio State, and now he’s got an offer. If he is adamant about making a visit to campus, then I would say the Buckeyes are very much in play for his commitment.

Currently, OSU has six members in their 2020 class, but none of them are defensive ends. The Buckeyes have had great experience on the recruiting trail before with DEs, and have churned out a handful of elite pass rushers in the Urban Meyer era. From the Bosa brothers, to Dre’Mont Jones to Chase Young, the past several years have featured NFL grade talent run out onto the field at Ohio Stadium. Now, can they find their next star in the ‘20 class?

A 5-star on the hardwood

Meyer’s football program wasn’t the only athletic program doling out offers to top prospects. On the hardwood, Chris Holtmann made an effort to boost the men’s basketball program by offering five-star 2020 small forward Jalen Johnson (Milwaukee, WI / Nicolet) a spot on the team. Like many others, Johnson unveiled his latest offer on Twitter.

Across the board, Johnson is one of the best. The 247sports composite has him listed as the fifth best player in his class, the second best SF, and the best player in the state of Wisconsin.

Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina are just three of the nearly 30 schools to have made offers known for the Milwaukee native. While Ohio State will have to go up against some elite schools, they are an elite school themself. Holtmann has already shown his prowess on the court and on the recruiting trail, so I wouldn’t count the Buckeyes out just yet in Johnson’s recruitment.

With some speculating that the 2020 season could be a national title type of campaign for the Buckeyes, the outlook looks bright for Holtmann’s program. If that’s the case, who wouldn’t want to become a Buckeye?