Buckeyes having busy recruiting week with multiple new offers

It’s only Thursday, but this has already been a loaded week for Ohio State and their coaching staff. After receiving a commitment from the fifth-best receiver in the country in Kaleb Brown on Monday, and offering multiple prospects as well the last couple of days, June is really shaping up to be just as expected. Without further hesitation, let’s jump right into the latest happenings surrounding the Buckeyes and their recruiting efforts.

Buckeyes offer a pair of future quarterbacks

It was just last week at their first football camp of the summer that Ohio State’s staff came away impressed with multiple signal callers, which led to a handful of offers after being pretty quiet on that front during the dead period. On Wednesday, during the third football camp of this young June recruiting period, the OSU staff once again offered a variety of players at the position in both the 2023 and 2024 classes.

First on the list and in the 2023 class, Ohio State extended an offer to Georgia native Dylan Lonergan. A 6-foot-1, 195-pound talent, Lonergan is currently ranked as the nation’s fourth-best quarterback in the class. In addition, Lonergan’s accolades continue on as he is also considered to be the No. 4 player in Georgia and the No. 41 player nationally regardless of position. Clearly impressing the staff and Ryan Day during camp, Lonergan’s stay in Columbus was certainly worth his time.

With over 20 offers to his name from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and of course now Ohio State, it’s not hard to see why Lonergan is a top-50 overall player in his class. The Buckeyes can of course tout their success with Justin Fields in this recruitment, who as you well know by know is also a native of Georgia.

The Buckeyes will have the luxury to be picky in terms of who they go after for their 2023 quarterback thanks to their incredible depth, but while having the nation’s best player in Quinn Ewers on his way to Columbus, it may cause the Buckeyes coaching staff to do a little extra work in convincing their top guy to sit for a couple of years. At any rate, Ohio State is in great hands.

In addition to Lonergan, Ohio State did a little work way down the road when they offered another quarterback in the future 2024 class. On the receiving end, Florida native Adrian Posse had Ryan Day and company thoroughly impressed after a lights out camp performance. Showing off the accuracy and arm strength, it can get lost in the shuffle that he’s only a high school freshman with three more full years to grow both on and off the field. Still, he was good enough to prove he’s worth an early offer.

At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds already, Posse obviously doesn’t look like your typical freshman — and he certainly doesn’t play like one either. Though he doesn’t yet have a ranking strictly due to his class status, having nearly 10 offers to his name and a couple from major programs like Georgia, Florida, and LSU give strong belief that when the time comes to place Posse in the rankings, he will easily be near the top. This Ohio State offer should further help his early recruitment take off, as more programs are sure to show up on the scene relatively soon.

Offering this early in the process again shows his talent, but also allows Ohio State’s staff to really build a strong relationship as they recruit him. He won’t be the only 2024 signal caller to end up with a Buckeye offer, but this one should leave an impression and be a foundation for the next couple of years as his name gets more familiar.

OSU offers top 2023 linebacker target

Not only was Wednesday a busy day on campus, but Tuesday provided the Buckeyes with plenty to do on the recruiting front and also on the field working out various players from around the country. One target in particular who is worth noting is Hawaiian linebacker Tausili Akana, who camped on Tuesday and also stayed in town on Wednesday. The nation’s top linebacker in the 2023 class per 247Sports, Akana’s 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame is the ideal size for the next level. Whether it’s in the run game or even in coverage, Akana impresses on the field and stood out to the Ohio State’s staff as well.

Making no small trek to Columbus, Akana went through drills on Tuesday and performed very well. So well, in fact, that the Buckeyes pulled the trigger and dished out an offer. Now with 25 offers to his name, Akana is really starting to garner the attention a top position player would see. Programs such as LSU, Oregon, Texas, USC, Washington, and several more are already in the fold, but now Ohio State has also entered the game and with position coach Al Washington’s recruiting chops, you have to think that at the very least Ohio State will be among his top schools list when the time comes.

With any Hawaiian based player, USC is usually at the front of the list in a recruitment. However, there’s not a single Crystal Ball prediction submitted on Akana’s behalf thus far, so any program could be at or near the top for his commitment. Now that Ohio State is in the mix, more programs should be soon to follow suit with an offer.

Basketball Bucks doing some recruiting of their own

While the football version of the Buckeyes are getting majority of the recruiting attention this June, the basketball Bucks are also doing a little recruiting of their own. Hosting a slew of top targets this June, Chris Holtmann and staff are doing their very best to keep their 2022 class at the top of the rankings and build their future classes with much of the same elite talent both from in-state players and nationally as well. Fortunately, like the football program, the hoops staff has some of their best attributes pegged on the recruiting trail.

On Wednesday, Ohio State offered two new guys in the 2023 class. The first, Maki Johnson out of West Virginia, took to his Twitter account to announce the news of the Buckeyes being the latest to offer. A 6-foot-3, 180-pound combo guard, Johnson is currently ranked as the No. 14 player at his position, the top overall prospect in his home state, and the 72nd best player in the country overall.

At nearly 10 offers so far from the likes of Kansas, Maryland, Penn State, and others, Johnson being a top-75 player nationally is getting some serious looks, and now Ohio State is doing their part in offering. Being relatively close to Ohio — just a state line away — Johnson could be a player that the Buckeyes really push for. As time goes on, we’ll see where Ohio State stands for Johnson and whether or not this recruitment goes their way.

The second offer given out Wednesday went to Illinois product Owen Freeman. Freeman announced via his Twitter that he also got some Ohio State love after visiting Columbus. A 6-foot-9, 220-pound power forward, Freeman does not currently have a ranking on his 247Sports profile, but does hold five offers, with the two biggest to this point coming from Iowa and his home state school Illinois. In addition, Butler, Wake Forest, and Western Illinois round out the programs that have dished out an offer to what looks to be a rising prospect in the Midwest.

Now that Ohio State has entered his recruiting scene, it’s not outrageous to think this offer is the biggest one yet. Stealing players out of Illinois has been a victorious feat for Holtmann in his short tenure so far, and if he can do it again in the 2023 class, it may just be with Freeman. Go figure, the picture he used to post his latest offer comes in the likes of using one of those superior Illinois players now suiting up for Ohio State.

Quick Hits

• On Wednesday, four-star offensive line prospect Jaylen Early released a top schools list of six programs still in the mix for his commitment. Ranked as the No. 10 interior offensive lineman in the 2022 class, Early is also considered to be the No. 203 player nationally per the 247Sports Composite rankings. Making the cut included Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Florida State, Penn State, and Ohio State.