Antwoine Higgins eager to see Ohio State defense evolve

CINCINNATI—Antwoine Higgins knows everyone expects him to choose Ohio State but he’s not considering anything about his recruitment a foregone conclusion.

“I didn’t grow up a big Ohio State fan,” Higgins told Buckeye Huddle. “I really didn’t watch much football because I was just outside playing it. So I’m coming at [his recruitment] with a wide open mind.”

The recruiting process is a blessing and a curse for many high-level football recruits. It puts everything a young man does, says and thinks into the public sphere and can, at times, be a lot to deal with. Higgins, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore, is riding the ups and downs that come with being a top of the radar prospect for schools like Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame and others.

“I love it,” Higgins told Buckeye Huddle. “But sometimes, it gets overwhelming with everyone coming at you. It’s about seeing what’s real and what’s fake.

“It comes down to who is making time for you. If I call, who is answering? Who is coming down to Anderson to see us and not just asking us to come visit their school. Things like that, that helps me tell [what’s real and what’s not.]”

Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis is responsible for the Buckeyes recruitment of Higgins, currently ranked as fourth-best prospect in Ohio. Laurinaitis was at Anderson High School this past Thursday morning, checking out Higgins and his teammates at the Raptors recruiting showcase. The connection with the former 2007 Butkus Award winner has been a difference-maker in Higgins process thus far.

“With [Laurinaitis,] we just connected instantly,” he said. “There are a lot of times we don’t even talk about football at all. We talk about family, we talk about life, what we’re doing and hobbies—stuff like that.”

Football does matter to Antwoine Higgins, of course, and Laurinaitis and the Buckeyes are pretty good at that, too. Those questions still matter a lot to the young linebacker.

“The most important thing to me,” Higgins said. “Is how they run their defense. How NFL friendly is it and is the team doing well? When the program isn’t doing well, coaches get fired, so that matters. I want to make sure the coaches are staying so that I can connect with them outside of football.”

Ohio State is in the midst of changing its defense, at least a little bit. Matt Patricia’s defense is going to be different than the system run under Jim Knowles. Getting to campus and seeing practice this spring was instructive for Higgins. Seeing the new defense goes a long way toward calming any nerves about, something that the Buckeyes weren’t able to make happen in the recruitment of 2025 Cincinnati-area linebacker Justin Hill, who picked Alabama over Ohio State because of uncertainty about the defense. To this point, there’s far less of that uncertainty for Higgins. He likes what he’s seen on the field and he sees the change in body-types running things at linebacker, too.

“I’ve seen [Patricia’s defense,] and I like it,” Higgins said. “I love what they’re doing. And seeing the guys running it, they’re not just recruiting defensive ends or just linebackers. They’re recruiting both of them, hybrid-type of guys like me.”

Having the chance to see the Buckeyes new defense in practice and theory is one thing but what it looks like this fall will be a focal point for the Cincinnati prep star.

“It’s just wait and see what it looks like,” Higgins said. “I have plenty of time to [decide] so I can see how things change or don’t change. I want to see how the season goes and see how I like it.”

It’s only been a year or so since James Laurinaitis became the full-time linebackers coach at Ohio State but he’s put his own stamp on the room from a recruiting standpoint. He has recruited his guys for his future, one that seems pretty easy to predict: it’ll take something incredible to get Laurinaitis to walk away from his alma mater. That sort of stability goes a long way for recruits like Higgins.

“That definitely matters, a lot,” Higgins said. “With the transfer portal, a lot of players are leaving but a lot of coaches are, too. Knowing that [Laurinaitis] wants to be there and doesn’t have to be there, that matters.”

Ohio State is battling Alabama and Michigan, among others, for Antwoine Higgins. He told BH that at this point he isn’t scheduling any summer camp appearances but will likely be on campus with all his favorite schools again in the near future.