Florida four-star DL sees Ohio State visit as a “big one”

It was a relatively quiet recruiting Tuesday for the Buckeyes, but they were able to garner some positive news on the defensive line front as a top target for Larry Johnson seems to be eagerly awaiting his visit to Columbus. Plus, an in-state prospect discusses last weekends visit to Ohio State as he watched the Buckeyes take down Rutgers.

Ohio State visit “the big one” for Hall

Despite picking up a few Crystal Ball predictions over the weekend to land with Georgia, it seems as if the Buckeyes shouldn’t be counting on their chances of landing 2023 four-star defensive lineman Jordan Hall of Westlake (FL).

Hall, a Jacksonville native, already has an official visit to Ohio State scheduled for the weekend of the Michigan contest, and it looks as if it’s one visit that the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder has been eyeing for some time now.

According to a tweet from Bucknuts, a coach of Hall’s relayed to them that the visit to Columbus is “the big one he is talking about.”

What that means in the grand scheme of things is unknown but it does lshow that the Buckeyes and defensive line coach Larry Johnson have done a lot of work in their pursuit of Hall to, at the very least, give them a real shot at reeling in the Florida standout despite the Bulldogs seemingly being in the lead at this time.

While much can change from now until the visit in November, if Ohio State can stick around until that trip to Columbus comes to fruition, you never know what could happen. Surely the Buckeyes would love if they can weather the storm and add a major defensive interior prospect to the fold for their current No. 4 overall class in the country.

Hall currently slots in as the 61st best prospect in the entire recruiting cycle. The blue-chip defender who is also being heavily courted by Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, and many more also ranks as a top ten player at his position and finds himself just outside of the top fifteen inside the state of Florida.

Grover talks weekend visit

One prospect that has already made a trip to Columbus to take in a Buckeyes game day atmosphere this season is 2024 three-star tight end Gavin Grover of Olentangy (OH). Grover, who is a towering 6-foot-6 prospect, stopped in last weekend to watch Ohio State dismantle Rutgers by a final score of 49-10.

On Tuesday, the in-state prospect caught up with Eleven Warriors’ Garrick Hodge to discuss the trip to the Buckeyes campus.

“It was an awesome experience being from Central Ohio. It was a unique opportunity for me to see all that and behind the scenes of everything that goes into it. I got to talk to coach (Ryan) Day and coach (Kevin) Wilson and loved what they had to say.”

For now, Ohio State has yet to extend an offer to Grover, the 17th highest graded tight end in the class, but perhaps that is something that could eventually come if the Lewis Center talent takes another leap forward as a player. “He just talks about how I can improve and where he wants to see me go that can lead to me receiving an offer from Ohio State,” Grover told Hodge.

Among the programs that have already offered the No. 13 player from Ohio include Cincinnati, Kentucky, Michigan State, Missouri, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and more.

Quick Hits

• Florida picked up another Crystal Ball forecast for 2023 four-star cornerback Dijon Johnson of Wharton (FL) on Tuesday. The Tampa standout was formerly committed to Ohio State before backing off of his pledge in late July.