Recruiting is a non-stop business and there aren't many places in the country that do it at the level Ohio State does. Keeping up with the Buckeyes' recruiting efforts is a full-time job and Dotting the 'Eyes is doing its best to keep you up to date with The Inside Stuff, the Ohio State recruiting notebook on Rivals.com.
COLUMBUS—Ohio State added a commitment from five-star safety Blaine Bradford on Monday and received more good news on Tuesday from five-star receiver Chris Henry Jr.
The long-time Buckeyes commitment announced via social media that he'll be shutting down his recruitment entirely and no longer take official visits—or visits of any kind—to any school except Ohio State.
"Officially shutting my recruitment down," Henry tweeted. "I'm 100 percent locked in and ready to work."
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound wideout from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) High School has been the subject of an almost nonstop barrage of speculation around his recruitment. That buzz has been amplified in recent months but really took off when he moved from Withrow (Cincinnati) High School to Mater Dei as West Coast programs like Oregon and USC applied pressure at every turn. The Ducks, Trojans and the Miami Hurricanes all had designs on flipping the country's No. 4-ranked receiver but the interest from those schools—and planned official visits to each—wasn't enough to move Henry off his choice. He picked the Buckeyes on July 28, 2023 because of his connection to Brian Hartline and despite all the talk about other programs, it was that bond that mattered the most.
""[Ohio State] is hard to turn down," Henry said the night of his commitment to Ohio State. "It's perfect for me. It fits me. It's a moment I was waiting for.
"It's an amazing feel for a school like this to have me as a priority."
The Buckeyes offered Henry before he played a game in high school. Hartline was able to coach him up in a one-day recruiting camp in the summer of 2022 and made sure he knew he was the guy for Ohio State for the next year until he committed and has done that every day in the two years since.
For Hartline, it's another instance of his remarkable ability to to build relationships that outlast the fluff that so often surrounds the recruitment of big-name prospects these days. He does that through honest talk and direct communication of expectations with the players that have committed to him and his vision for their future.
This isn't new for Hartline, though. He's been holding off top suitors for high-profile receivers since taking over the recruitment of Garrett Wilson and Jameson Williams in the summer of 2018. The recruitments of Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were back-and-forth in the stretch run of the 2020 class. Hartline fought for years to land Emeka Egbuka and did that late in the 2021 cycle. The recruitment of Carnell Tate in 2023 was all twists and turns and of course there was the to-the-wire fight for Jeremiah Smith in 2024.
Hartline's approach and the results of the product on the field—over and over—are elite no matter which way it's broken down.
Ohio State will host Chris Henry Jr. for his official visit in June but he will return to Columbus over the weekend of April 5.
That visit will carry a bit more weight now that he's reaffirmed his commitment to the Buckeyes.
