2022 Ohio State commit transferring to in-state high school

Ohio State got off to an incredibly hot start on the recruiting trail in this cycle, still sitting atop the leaderboard as the No. 1 class in the nation in 2021. As is to be expected, the Buckeyes have hit a bit of a lull after their flurry of commitments earlier this offseason. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a bunch of recruiting news to catch up on, including an interesting development in the 2022 class.

A change of scenery

Jyaire Brown surprised a bunch of people when he committed to Ohio State back in late April. The four-star corner, who was previously listed as the No. 6 player in Louisiana and the No. 122 prospect overall in the 2022 class, had been playing his high school ball at Warren Easton, and seemed destined to end up with the hometown LSU Tigers. In fact, four of the five Crystal Ball predictions on 247Sports were in favor of Ed Orgeron’s squad.

That would not be the case, obviously, as Brown has chosen the Buckeyes as his destination at the collegiate level. Originally a native of Cincinnati, the 6-foot CB has lived in Louisiana since he was four years old. However, he is now coming home, as Brown announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that he would be transferring to Lakota West HS in West Chester, OH.

Now considered an Ohio prospect in the 247Sports database, Brown is currently rated as the No. 3 recruit in the state for the 2022 class, where he is sandwiched between Ohio State’s two other current commits in the cycle in four-star OT Tegra Tshabola and four-star athlete C.J. Hicks. Speaking of Tshabola, he and Brown will have a chance to get to know each other a lot better before they reconvene as teammates in Columbus, as the talented offensive tackle will now be teammates with Brown at Lakota West.

Brown has been spending a ton of time in Ohio lately, and he and Tshabola have gotten rather close, with the duo advertising offering a youth football camp together last month. On top of the added bond between two future Buckeyes, Ohio State will now have less to worry about in terms of LSU potentially poaching the talented corner from their hands, as they no longer have the benefit of being the hometown team.

While the 2022 class rankings have yet to be released, Ryan Day and his staff are off to a great start early on in the process. They have already locked down three of the top four in-state prospects in the cycle, with the No. 1 recruit in Ohio — OLB Gabe Powers — also seemingly a heavy OSU lean with all three Crystal Ball Predictions in favor of the Buckeyes.

Quick Hits

• Ryan Day became the head coach at Ohio State prior to the 2019 season, finishing off the 2020 recruiting class Urban Meyer had started and ending up with the No. 5 group in the nation. Now, with a full recruiting cycle nearly under his belt, Day is proving that he is more than up to the task of continuing Meyer’s dominance in the recruiting game. Taking a look at his first two classes by position, it's clear that the new man in charge in Columbus knows what he is doing.