Before he began his own recruitment, Garrett Stover got an inside look at what Ohio State would be like.

The 2024 safety remembers coming to Ohio Stadium as a seventh grader as the guest of his cousin Cade Stover: now a redshirt junior tight end for the Buckeyes, but then a three-star outside linebacker in the 2019 class.

Garrett Stover’s first memories of that afternoon were not fond ones, reminiscing how he ate way too much food and got sick. But through this initial visit to Ohio State, he got a peek into his future, watching his cousin continue to build relationships, feeling out if Ohio State would be the right fit for him.

“It seemed like he already knew everyone in there,” Garrett Stover said. “I think the fun part about it was just seeing Cade getting along with everybody. I think Ohio State and all the other schools, you get the opportunity to work with all different types of kids and different people and I think that’s a very special part.”

To Garrett Stover, Cade is a special resource. He’s a great role model, someone he always looked up to. He’s a person who went through the process he’s going through now, something he can build off and learn from.

But he doesn’t want to be known only as “Cade Stover’s cousin.”