COLUMBUS, Ohio - Although there is over half a year left until the beginning of the Early Signing Period, a flurry of juniors across the country are set to utilize most, or all, of their official visits next month.

There are prospects who have opted to take their officials in the fall, but the month of June is when the bulk of these trips are taking place. In fact, Ohio State is expected to host 51 official visitors on campus next month, with the possibility of more recruits being added to that number in the near future.

This is a challenging and unprecedented task for the Buckeyes, but one that they are ready for. While speaking with the media today, Ohio State Assistant Athletic Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni said the program is prepared for a tight schedule in the coming weeks.

"The good thing is we're not in season right now," Pantoni said. "So, it's all hands on deck in the building, which it will be. It's just my job and Erin [Dunston's] job just to be as organized as possible for when they get on campus with so many kids, that we have a great plan and envision anything that could possibly go wrong and be prepared for it."

There are some noteworthy 2022 targets that are not expected to take their officials to Ohio State in June. Those prospects include Caden Curry, Derrick Moore, Earnest Greene and Shawn Murphy.

Pantoni did admit that this puts some pressure to not only impress the boatload of official visitors who will be in Columbus next month, but to also then continue any momentum they gain all the way until those players commit.

"It's kind of like we're putting all our chips in right now in the month of June because a lot of these guys, we may never get back before the December signing period," Pantoni said. "So, that's a long time to go and that impression, it may lose a lot of its luster. And a lot of the top guys we're going after right now these next four weeks, they're going to be taking visits every weekend.

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"So, we just have to do a great job and then after the visit, we just have to do a great job of staying in touch," Pantoni added. "Hopefully, for some of these kids, I think the attraction of coming unofficially for a game will be there. So, hopefully, we can make that work in a lot of these cases."

With all of these visits set to take place starting June 1, it does bring up an interesting question to ponder. Off-season officials afford coaches more time to spend with their targets, but are they more beneficial to the program than getting recruits to check out game days to experience the atmosphere created by the team and fans?

Both have their benefits, but Pantoni says official visits during the season are both difficult to organize and prevents staff members and prospects from being able to spend more time together.

"Game day visits are just so hectic with these kids playing on Friday night, getting home late, getting the first flight out Saturday morning," Pantoni said. "Getting here and coaches are worried about preparing for the game, worried about the players.

"And then, after coaches not seeing their families for the entire week because of game planning, it's just very limited on the amount of time," Pantoni added. "You just don't have time with these kids. And then Sunday, they're getting ready for the next game."

This is not to say Ohio State is completely unopposed to recruits taking their officials during the season. Marvin Jones Jr. has a preference to see his top teams play in person, and the Buckeyes were more than willing to welcome him on campus in September when they play Oregon.

But, in Pantoni's experience, they have enjoyed more success when getting official visitors during three-day stretches that don't overlap with game days.

"To me, the more time that coaches can spend around these kids, not leave their side and really develop that relationship, whether it's during the summer or after the season, I think we've had the most success in those instances," Pantoni said. "If these kids are going for game visits, a lot of these schools they're visiting have really impressive home games because they're going to pick the biggest games to go see.

"So, with all being equal, the game day experience... I don't think trump's relationships with our players and coaches."

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove for more coverage on today's press conference.