Nation's Top Junior Jahkeem Stewart Getting Comfortable at Ohio State

Ohio State has now received multiple visits from the nation’s number one-ranked junior prospect, New Orleans (LA) St. Augustine defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, in the past two months. Those visits are making Stewart feel good about his relationships and comfort level at Ohio State.

“The vibes are always great with coach (Larry) Johnson,” Stewart said after his camp workout on Thursday. “Coach (LaAllan) Clark is my guy, he’s one of the main reasons why I’m up here.”

The red carpet was rolled out for Stewart on Thursday. Meetings, talking to current players, and a full camp workout were all on the itinerary for the five-star prospect.

“It’s always great coming up here, talking with coach Johnson and coach Day,” he said. “They’re great coaches and it’s a consistent program and that’s what I’m about.”

While Larry Johnson does a lot of the heavy lifting for defensive line recruiting, LaAllan Clark has been a bit of a secret weapon for Ohio State in this recruitment. A Louisiana native, Clark knows everything about where Stewart is coming from and those two have been building a close bond.

“Coach Clark understands me,” Stewart explained. “With him being from Louisiana, we talk different and so we’re going to communicate different than other people up here.”

Clark and Johnson put Stewart through a full workout on Thursday, doing every drill that the rest of the campers did and competing in 1-on-1’s. They then took Stewart inside for a breakdown of his game. Stewart’s desire to get better might be more impressive than his physical capabilities.

“I don’t want to hear that I’m good at this or I’m good at that, I want to hear what I need to work on and break stuff down so I can become a better version of myself.”

Stewart will make another visit to USC next week and says he is still undecided about whether or not he will reclassify to the 2025 recruiting class.