Eyes on the Trail: Another receiver emerging in Southwest Ohio, new offer to big-time lineman

Welcome to ‘Eyes on the Trail’, our Monday-Friday Ohio State recruiting notebook from the recruiting staff here at BuckeyeHuddle.com. Keep it locked in here for the latest in all things Buckeye recruiting.

Abundance of talent at Cincinnati Withrow

Known as more of a basketball school over the years, there is a buzz around the Withrow High football program right now. The east side Cincinnati program is coming off a season in which it earned the No. 5 seed in a loaded Region 8 playoffs and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

Now the Tigers are becoming a must stop program for college coaches going through Southwest Ohio. Over the weekend, we previewed two of the programs brightest stars in class of 2024 defensive back Terhyon Nichols and class of 2026 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., but there are more prospects to watch at the Withrow program.

Tigers head coach Kali Jones estimates there could be at least eight Division I prospects within his program at the moment and one big name to remember in the group is class of 2025 wide receiver Quintin Simmons.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound prospect brings big-time track speed to the football field and his ability to threaten defenses both vertically and horizontally have led to early offers from the likes of Boston College, Kentucky, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia.

With Chris Henry Jr.’s return to Withrow after spending his freshman season at West Clermont, the Tigers could very well boast the best one-two punch in Ohio at the wide receiver position this fall. Brian Hartline has already offered and made Henry Jr. a priority and it won’t be a surprise if Simmons gets a very close look this spring and summer from the Buckeyes.

Buckeyes offer big-time lineman out of Tennessee

Ohio State threw its hat into the ring for one of the more promising young offensive line prospects in the 2025 class on Monday. Nashville (TN) Lipscomb Academy product Chauncey Gooden, a 6-foot-4, 315-pound interior line prospect, reported his offer from the Buckeyes.

Lipscomb Academy is one of the top talent producing programs in Tennessee and the Buckeyes have recruited the school fairly hard in recent years but have yet to cash in.

Ohio State continues to recruit Gooden’s teammate, class of 2024 Edwin Spillman who is among the top linebacker targets for the Buckeyes in this cycle and now they’ll put some focus into recruiting Gooden as well.

Gooden’s early offer list is impressive, to say the least. The Buckeyes joined Tennessee, Auburn, Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Florida State, Miami (FL), and more than 20 others programs.

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