Buckeyes send out offer to one of Ohio’s best

As we continue to adjust to life in our new quarantined world, Ohio State is adjusting to the recruiting trail without the ability to actually get out on said trail. While the Buckeyes have done a phenomenal job of continuing to pull in high quality talent in 2021, the current state of affairs could actually be more of hinderance for the 2022 class.

At this point in the game, Ryan Day and his staff have a pretty good idea of which guys they are in on as they look to close out this year’s crop strong. However, when it comes to 2022, there is still a lot of evaluating to be done before the team establishes a clear picture of its recruiting board. That evaluation becomes much harder without the ability to go to prospects’ schools and talk to the kids themselves as well as parents and coaches.

That being said, the team Day has built around him is putting in overtime to make do with what they have and keep things rolling as close to business as usual as possible. We have seen some of that early work go into effect this week, as Ohio State has sent out numerous offers to 2022 prospects in the past few days. On Tuesday, that list got a little bigger...

Four-star in-state prospect receives Ohio State offer

Locking down the best talent within the state of Ohio has been a clear and obvious priority for Ryan Day since he stepped on campus. With all of the top five in-state prospects in 2021 having committed to Ohio State, the Buckeyes headman is looking to get a quick start on the state’s top guys in 2022. He furthered that goal on Tuesday, sending out a new scholarship offer to four-star athlete C.J. Hicks (Dayton, OH/Archbishop Alter)

Standing at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Hicks is currently the No. 15 athlete in the nation, and the No. 3 prospect from the state of Ohio in the 247Sports ratings. Speaking to Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts, Hicks explained that he had been speaking with linebackers coach Al Washington the last couple of week, and on Tuesday he and Kevin Wilson got on a call to offer him a scholarship. According to Hicks, Ohio State is recruiting him as an outside linebacker, which he says is fine: “I just want to play ball.”

Hicks has been on campus numerous times, and was planning on heading back to Columbus for a spring practice this March before everything got shut down. With 22 offers now in his back pocket, the athlete is receiving interest from many of the Big Ten’s top programs, including Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin. While he does plan on making a return visit to Ohio State whenever it becomes possible, he is also looking forward to visiting other schools on his list.

While it is still incredibly early in his recruiting process, there are already three Crystal Ball predictions in for Hicks, with all three in favor of Ohio State. Time will tell, but the Buckeyes have done a masterful job of keeping around their best local talent, and that trend doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

Quick Hits

• Birm of Lettermen Row broke down the interesting scenario regarding Ohio State’s QB recruiting in 2022. Between the obvious ongoing restrictions and the trio of talented commits at the position in 2020/21, it makes sense the Buckeyes are moving a bit slowly in finding their top targets at QB in 2022. As it currently stands, OSU has offered four QBs in the class thus far, with two of them — Quinn Ewers and Steven Angeli — having previously been on campus. Ewers is the No. 1 pro-style QB in the class and No. 1 recruit out of Texas, and so he will likely be a top target on Ohio State’s board, but we will have to wait and see how the evaluation process plays out when things return to a more normal state.