LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A year ago this week, Tavien St. Clair walked into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center at Ohio State with news to share.
The five-star quarterback from Bellafontaine (Ohio) was ready to commit to the Buckeyes, a childhood favorite team with a rich history of producing top talent at his position. Two-time Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud had been taken second overall in the NFL Draft just two months prior, and St. Clair could not wait to start mapping out a similar blueprint in Columbus. He stepped into coach Ryan Day’s office equally nervous and excited.
“Coach Day and coach Corey Dennis had started asking about a commitment a couple months before that moment, just dropping hints here and there and wondering when I wanted to do it,” St. Clair said at the Elite 11 Finals. “My family and I were overwhelmed with joy when we finally did it. Enrolling early was a big factor in the timing. Obviously it was two full years before the start of my first college season, but it’s big for the quarterback to jump in early and recruit the guys he wants around him.”
The results, at least for Ohio State, have been tangible — the Buckeyes hold a healthy lead atop the 247Sports Team Composite Recruiting Rankings for the 2025 class with six months remaining until the Early Signing Period. St. Clair is one of three five-star prospects in the group that also features 12 other Top247 members.
Ask any coach and they’ll tell you there’s no better way to kick-start a class than by landing an elite quarterback recruit. He’s a magnet for other elite players. He’s a testament to your fans, boosters and bosses that your program’s going in the right direction. And he’s usually the most vocal one in building out the class, organizing group texts, visit weekends. He’s a quarterback, after all.
“You already know who you are, but I’ll call you out again: Dakorien Moore, David Sanders, Jordon Davison, Justin Hill,” St. Clair said when asked who he’s recruiting to Ohio State, rattling off a who’s-who of 2025’s best players. “Vernell Brown was out here. I’m recruiting him. Just get ready for it. We got the best class in the nation. I’m trying to have the best team in the nation for the next forever. Keeping Ohio State on the top is the main thing.”
A now-prevalent early-pledge structure in the world of quarterback recruiting first hit the mainstream in 2010 when Delaware…
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