May has been a busy month for local recruiting
Another busy college football recruiting season is well underway for local prospects with numerous Division I offers having gone out in the first half of May alone.
Players in every class — including incoming high school freshmen — have reported serious interest from colleges.
Here is a look at some of the noteworthy developments:
■ The top-rated area recruit in the 2023 class who is not verbally committed is Springfield receiver Anthony Brown, who is near 30 offers after Vanderbilt extended one May 5. The former Minnesota commit told 247Sports he plans to make official visits to Kentucky and Cincinnati next month. Brown is the No. 5 prospect in Ohio per 247Sports Composite rankings for the class of 2023 while Wayne offensive lineman Josh Padilla is No. 3 and Lakota West defensive back Malik Hartford is No. 4. Padilla and Hartford have both committed to Ohio State along with Lakota East offensive lineman Austen Siereveld.
■ One of Brown’s teammates, Aaron Scott Jr., has been perhaps the hottest recruit in the area lately despite being just a sophomore (for a little while longer). The 2024 four-star cornerback has more than a dozen offers after adding Notre Dame, West Virginia, Michigan and Vanderbilt since the start of May.
■ Miamisburg tight end Jackson McGohan, a 247Sports Composite three-star prospect for 2023, verbally committed to Cincinnati in January, but that has not halted pursuit from other schools. He has reported four new offers this month, including Big Ten tight end factory Iowa along with the University of Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma and Connecticut.
■ Northmont receiver Javien Brownlee became the 10th area player from the class of 2023 to commit when he announced May 10 he will play for Kent State. The Golden Flashes also recently offered Hamilton linebacker Lanny Ash Jr.
■ Of course, quarterback is always a position of interest, and a pair of seniors-to-be have
reported offers this month: Mitch Bolden of Lakota West received an offer from Tennessee-Martin (FCS) while Bryce Schondelmyer’s first offer is from Division II Ashland. Schondelmyer, who was the Ohio Division VI co-player of the year on offense last year at Arcanum, also reported receiving an invitation to camp at Bowling Green.
■ Connecticut recently offered Centerville teammates Joseph Jean-Louis and Greg Powers. Jean-Louis is a three-star 2023 linebacker prospect who already had offers from Miami (Ohio), Akron, Toledo, Massachusetts, Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Michigan. Powers is a 2024 defensive back prospect who also has offers from Cincinnati,
EKU, Toledo, Massachusetts and Ball State.
■ UMass has also been very busy in the area, perhaps not a coincidence after former Trotwood-Madison star and Michigan captain Mike McCray II joined the Minutemen coaching staff over the winter. Massachusetts has also offered Trotwood quarterback Timothy Carpenter (2024), Lakota West athlete Taebron Bennie-Powell (2024),
Middletown’s Majaden Lewis (’23) and a pair of 2025 prospects from Wayne — quarterback Tyrell Lewis and receiver Teaunn Hunter.
■ Massachusetts also wins the award for offer to youngest area player. That would be Jamarcus Whyce, a defense lineman who will be a freshman for the Trotwood-Madison Rams this fall. He also received an offer from Toledo earlier this month.
■ Akron is another school to show lots of interest in the area lately, including the extension of offers to three players from Stebbins: receivers Adrian Norton (2023) and RayVonn Harris (2024) along with offensive lineman Jake Wheelock (2024). R.J. Mukes, a 2024 receiver for Wayne, also picked up an Akron offer this month along with FCS Youngstown State and Penn.
■ As Xenia coach Maurice Harden works to build up his program in year two, he has four talented ’23s who all recently reported receiving offers from nearby Central State of Division II: Jamell Smith, Tremell Wright, Trei’Shaun Sanders and Jaxen Lewis. Wright also has reported offers from D-2 Grand Valley State and Tiffin.