Ohio State (finally) gets it 2023 QB (2024)

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program. Check here every day as The Athletic keeps you up to date on all of the news around the world of recruiting. Also, check all our college football news coverage and our transfer portal coverage.

(Photo of Arch Manning: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

Ohio State has its quarterback in the Class of 2023. On Saturday, Brock Glenn, a four-star prospect from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn., committed to Ohio State over Florida State, Auburn, TCU and LSU.

Glenn, ranked No. 335 overall and the No. 17 quarterback in the class, took an official visit to Ohio State in mid-June. There had been some buzz that Florida State was in good position in this recruitment, but the Buckeyes ended up being the choice.

Ohio State has only three scholarship quarterbacks on its 2022 roster, starter C.J. Stroud and backups Kyle McCord (second year) and Devin Brown (first year). With the very real possibility that Stroud heads off to the NFL after this season, the Buckeyes were looking to bolster their quarterback room with a ‘22 recruit.

Dylan Raiola, a five-star prospect in the Class of 2024, committed to Ohio State in May.

Auburn picked up its first two commitments in the Class of 2024 on Saturday afternoon —quarterback Adrian Posse from Miami Columbus and cornerback A'Mon Lane from Moody (Ala.) High.

Posse is ranked No. 184 overall and No. 13 among quarterbacks. Moody is ranked No. 221 nationally and No. 11 in the state of Alabama.

Florida continued its run of blue-chip commitments with a pledge from four-star Miami-Northwestern receiver Andy Jean on Saturday. His five finalists included Alabama, Texas A&M, Miami and Georgia.

Jean gives the Gators 16 commitments for the class of 2023 and four in the past 48 hours, lifting the class ranking to 12th in the 247Sports Composite.

Committed to Miami for a month last winter, Jean is 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds and ranks 332nd nationally.

Earlier this month, Pro Bowler Amari Cooper, who played at Alabama under current Florida head coach Billy Napier, posted a video praising the Gators’ speed coach Tiger Jones. Cooper is an alum of Jean’s high school.

Florida now has five receivers committed to this class, including Aiden Mizell (No. 72), Eugene Wilson (No. 140), Creed Whittemore (No. 406) and Tyree Patterson (No. 823). Wilson and Patterson have positional flexibility as potential defensive backs.

Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill announced his commitment to Texas A&M on Saturday. Hill is ranked as the No. 1 linebacker in the Class of 2023, per the 247 Sports Composite.

Four-star safety Peyton Bowen committed to Notre Dame on Jan. 1 of this year. Rated the No. 47 overall player in the 2023 class in the 247Sports Composite, Bowen — who plays at Guyer High in Denton, Texas — is an integral piece of what has a chance to be the Fighting Irish’s highest-ranked class in the modern recruiting era.

Bowen is committed to Notre Dame.

But how do you define committed?

Florida received a commitment Saturday from four-star defensive back Jordan Castell, the nation’s No. 202-ranked recruit, who chose the Gators over Alabama and Tennessee.

At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Castell has played cornerback at West Orange High in Winter Garden, Fla., but projects as a safety in college. He has 34 offers, including LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan and Ohio State.

"Coach (Corey) Raymond is the GOAT," Castell said. "Check his resume. I went to work out for him and he taught me so much just through that period. So me being out there with him for three years, I'm going to be nasty."

Castell boosted the Gators’ 2023 class to 15 commitments, with 13 of those in-state. He becomes the fourth defensive back pledge, joining safety Aaron Gates and cornerbacks Ja’Keem Jackson and Sharif Denson.

With new coaching staffs jousting for recruits, Florida versus Miami antagonism is starting to sizzle as we approach camp. Beat writers Manny Navarro from Miami and G. Allan Taylor from Florida chat about the storylines.

The Miami Hurricanes are hosting a barbecue Saturday and will have several intriguing prospects on hand, including Ohio State four-star cornerback commitment Dijon Johnson of Tampa (Fla.) Wharton High School. Johnson, ranked No. 93 in the 247Sports Composite, has been committed to Ohio State since April.

Florida and Miami have been making a push to keep the 6-foot-1, 190-pound two-way talent close to home. Johnson had 12 tackles, three interceptions and a fumble recovery as a junior, according to MaxPreps, helping Wharton go 9-3 and reach the third round of the state playoffs.

Five-star edge rusher Samuel M'Pemba (No. 25 in the 247Sports Composite) will be among several standouts in the 2023 and 2024 cycles from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy on Miami's campus Saturday.

It's Lasch Bash weekend at Penn State. And as the staff size has expanded, so have the number of attendees for this important recruiting weekend.

Penn State's staff then must transition into preseason mode with players meeting Sunday and the first practice Monday.

"It's not really a recruiting day — it's a time for them just come and have fun," James Franklin said this week. "We don't really do presentations, It's come and just enjoy yourself. But, it's always also been looked at as kind of a springboard into the next recruiting class."

Four-star receiver Aiden Mizell, the nation’s No. 72-ranked recruit, committed to Florida over Alabama and Tennessee on Friday. He becomes the Gators’ 14th commitment of the 2023 class and their fourth receiver.

A 6-foot-2, 180-pounder with track speed, Mizell topped the 1,000-yard receiving mark as a junior at Boone High in Orlando. His other offers included Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame and Miami.

Mizell’s commitment boosted the Gators’ class ranking to 14th in the 247Sports Composite.

Four-star cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson, a top-200 national recruit, committed to Florida on Thursday night, giving the Gators a key in-state pickup.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder out of Osceola High in Kissimmee has 10.9 speed in the 100 meters and posted a 4.5 time in the 40 at camp. His top contenders included Tennessee, Auburn, Penn State and Kentucky while other offers included Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Florida State and Iowa.

Ranked No. 168 in the 2023 class, Jackson recorded three interceptions as a junior in limited defensive action while catching 36 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver.

He becomes Florida’s 13th commit overall and its third defensive back along with four-star cornerback Sharif Denson (No. 213) and three-star safety Aaron Gates (No. 320).

A pair of four-star defensive line teammates of Jackson’s who were targeted by the Gators committed elsewhere Thursday. John Walker (No. 99) chose UCF and Derrick LeBlanc (No. 101) picked Oklahoma.

Miami picked up its 16th commitment in the 2023 cycle Thursday night – and as a bonus, it served as another victory on the trail for head coach Mario Cristobal over Billy Napier and the Florida Gators.

Tommy Kinsler, a 6-foot-6, 330-pound three-star offensive lineman from Ocala Trinity Catholic who committed to Florida back on June 19, completed his flip from Florida to Miami nearly four weeks after dropping his pledge to the Gators following a visit to Coral Gables.

The Hurricanes beat Florida for five-star tackle Francis Mauigoa of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy (No. 6 in 247Sports Composite), four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada (No. 49) and four-star linebackers Malik Bryant (No. 61) and Raul Aguirre (No. 124).

Kinsler, ranked No. 919 overall and 66th among interior offensive linemen in the 247Sports Composite, is one of four offensive linemen in Miami’s class. The Hurricanes also have pledges from Mauigoa, three-star interior lineman Antonio Tripp (No. 439) of Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh and Australian-born three-star tackle Frankie Tinilau of Miami (Fla.) LaSalle (No. 1,214).

Miami, which could sign up to six offensive linemen in the class, is considered the industry-wide favorite to land five-star tackle Samson Okunlola (No. 14) of Braintree (Mass.) Thayer Academy.

The Canes also remain in play for four-star tackle Monroe Freeling (No. 62) of Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate Academy and four-star interior lineman Iapani Laloulu (No. 304) of Honolulu (HI) St. Louis High.

About an hour after John Walker announced his commitment to UCF, four-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc — Walker's teammate at Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla. — pledged to Oklahoma. Ranked No. 101 in the 247Sports Composite, LeBlanc picked the Sooners over Florida and Penn State.

Oklahoma now has 18 commitments in its 2023 class that has climbed to No. 6 in the country.

Monroe Freeling, the third-highest-ranked uncommitted offensive lineman in the country in the 247Sports Composite, told The Athletic on Wednesday that he’ll likely wait until early in his senior season to make a commitment to one of his four finalists.

Freeling, a 6-foot-7, 283-pound four-star prospect from Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate Academy, is ranked No. 62 nationally. He took an unofficial visit to Alabama on Thursday and said he was planning to stop by Georgia on Saturday before the start of the recruiting dead period in August.

Freeling visited Miami and Florida in late June and had Notre Dame as a finalist until the Fighting Irish closed out their offensive line class by adding four-star tackle Charles Jagusah out of Rock Island (Ill.) Alleman at the end of June.

Freeling said he wants to attend games at Miami and Florida early in the season and then see how their respective seasons play out before locking in a final decision.

“I had a good time (at Miami and Florida),” Freeling said. “For me, it’s just about sifting through all the nooks and crannies. There’s a whole lot of hype and sometimes people don’t live up to the hype. I’d actually like to wait because no one wants to commit to a school just to not have them do too well.”

(For more information on Freeling and a breakdown of the Miami vs. Florida recruiting battles, listen to Wide Right, a podcast from The Athletic.)

UCF added to its already strong class Thursday night when John Walker, a four-star defensive lineman from Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla., committed to the Knights over an impressive list of finalists — Florida, Ohio State, Miami and Michigan.

Walker, ranked No. 99 nationally in the 247Sports Composite, is the highest-ranked player and the third four-star prospect in UCF’s 2023 class.

Walker is also the only member of the top 100 who is committed to a school that is currently not in a Power 5 conference (although UCF will be moving to the Big 12 next season).

The new episode of Stars Matter, a recruiting podcast from The Athletic, can be found on the feed of the Andy Staples Show & Friends. On this week’s show, Ari Wasserman and Mitch Light discuss:

• Alabama’s surging 2023 class
• Washington’s in-state woes
• Is A&M poised for a late surge?
• Joey McGuire’s NIL comments
• Mailbag + Trivia