Peach State Pairing: Can Buckeyes Land Eddrick Houston & KJ Bolden After Big Visits?

The Ohio State Buckeyes 2024 recruiting class is already taking shape as they are hot in pursuit of two of the nation's top prospects from the state of Georgia.

Author:
Harrison Reno
Publish date:
Jun 20, 2023 2:10 PM EDT

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Thanks to their national brand, the Ohio State Buckeyes have a history of recruiting the nation's best prospects out of the southeast. Whether prospects are from Georgia or Florida, the Buckeyes have landed prospects from there - both states are considered two of the best for high school football in the country.

The state of Georgia specifically has given the Buckeyes recently Jordan Hancock, Steele Chambers, and Kojo Antwi, just to name a few. Now coach Ryan Day and co. are back on the trail looking for more prospects out of the Peach State, including two of the state's top prospects, Eddrick Houston and KJ Bolden.

Houston and Bolden are high school teammates who could be considering playing together for another three to four years at the collegiate level. Both are natives of Buford, Georgia, which is home to one of the top programs that the state has to offer, Buford High School.

The Buckeyes are obviously in on the Buford duo, with both of them coming off a visit to Columbus over the weekend. Judging by 247Sports' "crystal ball" system, the Buckeyes seem to be in the lead for Houston, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive linemen, while they may have some catching up to do with Bolden, who has predictions currently to Georgia.

Both are five-star prospects, with Bolden playing both ways for Buford as a safety and wide receiver at 6-foot-1.

That sense of the Buckeyes leading for Houston, while the Bulldogs hold the edge with Bolden was reiterated recently by ON3's Rusty Mansell during an appearance on the "Inside Scoop" podcast.

"I think Eddrick Houston would be leaning to Ohio State if he had to say right now like whose his No. 1. ... KJ Bolden, I would predict Georgia as of today, but I've told everyone this Ohio State visit is the one to watch, where is he when he gets back from Columbus," Mansell said. "So, we'll see him in the next couple of days and see where he is. But the biggest threat to Georgia if they were to land KJ Bolden, in my opinion, is Ohio State."

Ohio State certainly has a lot to sell to both athletes, as the program has a history of producing NFL players at all three positions. Under defensive line coach Larry Johnson, the Buckeyes have no shortage of first-round picks, like Joey and Nick Bosa, along with Chase Young. Additionally, their pedigree at receiver seems too hard to match for any program currently.

Both recruitments will be ones to watch as the Buckeyes look to pull in another top-four-ranked recruiting class.