Buckeyes Have Made Big Impression On Aiden Harris

WEDDINGTON, N.C. – Every year we hear stories about the “package deal” of recruits wanting to play with their high school teammates at the next level for most of those deals never coming to existence.

That may be a little bit different for class of 2026 defensive lineman Aiden Harris when it comes to playing with his teammate and brother, Andrew Harris.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they are already in the mix for landing this dynamic duo.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound four-star is closing in on two dozen offers, one from Ohio State and is surely in line for many more big offers along the way with more than a year to go as a rising junior.

The Harris brothers along with cousin, Thomas Davis Jr. (yes, the son of former NFL’er Thomas Davis) visited Ohio State over the past couple of months along with Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.). And another look at Ohio State looks to be in the future as Harris is trying to make it out to Ohio State, Georgia, Miami and Southern Cal over the summer.

If you are a defensive lineman, one of the main attractions at Ohio State is learning under Larry Johnson.

“I’d say that he’s one of the best coaches to ever do it,” Harris said of Larry Johnson.

Ohio State fans have fond memories of the Bosa brothers along with Chase Young but his track record with linemen goes much deeper than that.

“You won’t get a coach that put a lot of D-linemen in the draft,” Harris said. “I was sitting in the room with him one day and he showed us a list of all the players that he put in the draft. It’s mind-blowing. As a person, he’s really cool.”

It doesn’t hurt having a family member who excelled both in the college game but in the NFL as well. Davis was a standout at Georgia and then would go on to be a first-round draft pick and have a stellar career with the Carolina Panthers as a three-time Pro Bowler.

Davis has been very hands-on in supporting his nephews when it comes to football but is not going to inject himself into their recruitments.

“The recruiting thing, he just tells us to keep our heads high,” Harris said. “If a school don’t want us, oh well.”

Harris will draw plenty of interest from schools in the Southeast but is not going to close the fences around his recruitment for schools like Ohio State and USC.

“I talk to my mom,” Harris said. “She just said, ‘Go somewhere that’s best for (you)’ and that’s what I am going to do.”

Find out more about one of the top defensive linemen in the class of 2026 in this exclusive video from our annual Southern Swing trip and keep it locked in to BuckeyeHuddle for all the latest.