Ohio State welcomed its four-man recruiting class of 2023 along with a pair of potential candidates to fill it as the football team hosted Notre Dame at Ohio Stadium.
Verbal engagements Scotty Middleton, Austin Parks, Devin Royal and George Washington III were all on campus for official visits, and so was uncommitted four-star guard Taison Chatman. But the focus on the pre-game sideline was mostly directed at one player who was on an unofficial visit: Bronny James, the son of Lebron James and a member of the Class of 2023 who is considering the Buckeyes.
James spent around four hours earlier in the day touring the program, watching practices and even taking part in a photo shoot that has become customary with most recruiting tours. When the tour ended around 3:30 p.m., the James family left campus for a few hours but returned about an hour before the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
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In the meantime, Chatman, Middleton, Parks, Royal and Washington all took part in the “Skull Session” to hear the Ohio State Marching Band practice inside the St. John Arena and have spent time at a team tailgate before heading to the stadium. They spent time posing for photos with each other and with coach Chris Holtmann at the north end of the stadium as James and his father made their way to the pitch via an alternate route. Current men’s basketball players Zed Key, Felix Okpara, Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle and Brice Sensabaugh were also in attendance.
As Bronny and LeBron James watched the football team warm up while standing around the 35-yard line on the sideline at the south end of the stadium, two security guards mostly kept the fans at bay . Some approached to take selfies with LeBron and others chatted with them. First-year cornerback Diante Griffin ran over to hug them both at some point before father and son attended a pre-game air show.
Fans chanted, “We want Bronny!” as they stood on the sidelines. And when someone shouted “OH!” to them, father and son returned the joy by making “IO” with their arms.
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About 20 minutes from kickoff, members of the US Navy parachute team known as “Leapfrogs” took to the grass field. With her arm around her son’s shoulder, the two jumped up and down and expressed their disbelief when paratroopers landed just feet away from them.
Ohio State currently has the No. 5 recruiting class in the nation for 2023 and could still add one more. Chatman, a four-star combo guard according to the 247Sports.com composite database, is a senior at Minneapolis Totino-Grace and has also made official visits to Xavier and Kansas.
The recruitment of James was shrouded in secrecy. This is his first known visit, official or not.
Ohio State also welcomed Raleigh Burgess, a 6-foot-10, 205-pound center from Cincinnati Sycamore to the class of 2024. He has offers from Ohio State, Wisconsin and ‘Iowa, among others.
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