Priority Offensive Line Target Maxwell Riley Gets Fresh Look at Ohio State

Class of 2026 Avon Lake (Ohio) offensive lineman Maxwell Riley hasn’t been a stranger at Ohio State. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound prospect has made numerous trips to Columbus over the past year but got a bit of a different look at things this past Saturday when he was in town for the Buckeyes’ big Junior Day recruiting event.

“This was my first visit that wasn’t based around a football event, like a game or a practice, so there was more time to talk to coaches,” Riley told BuckeyeHuddle.com.

Those relationships continue to improve as the Buckeyes have made Riley one of their top early priorities in the 2026 recruiting class.

“I’d definitely say my relationships with Coach Frye and Coach Day have continued to grow throughout this recruiting process,” Riley said. “They haven’t really pushed anything directly but their motto is still the same, that the best in Ohio, stay in Ohio.”

Riley is part of a loaded Ohio crop of offensive linemen in the 2026 class. The Buckeyes have already offered two other Ohio linemen in Hoban’s Sam Greer and St. Ignatius’ Will Conroy. All three prospects were on campus Saturday. While serious discussions haven’t taken place yet, Riley admits it’s an interesting thought to all play together at the next level.

“Sam and Will are a couple of great football players but also a couple of great people to be around,” Riley said. “All three of us have a while to go in our recruiting processes but we’ll see what happens.”

At this point, Riley doesn’t have any future visits scheduled but is starting to put some thought into when he might want to narrow his focus.

“I’d like to trim my list at some point later this Spring/Summer and then go from there in my recruitment,” he added.

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