Five-Star Safety Blaine Bradford Locked In with Ohio State

BATON ROUGE, La. — Ohio State pulled off a major heist this spring when it landed the commitment of five-star Baton Rouge (LA) Catholic safety Blaine Bradford. The commitment, especially the timing of it, came as a surprise to many as Bradford gave the Buckeyes his pledge during a spring unofficial visit.

“I knew a little bit,” Bradford said on if the commitment was planned. “I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure until I got there and I really felt it.”

That feeling was difficult for Bradford to put into words.

“It’s a feeling that you can’t really describe,” he explained. “It’s a feeling like God is telling you, ‘you have to do it’. I talked to my parents about it, I talked to my relatives about it, my close friends. It’s a good feeling.”

There was naturally some skepticism about how firm the commitment would be. Bradford lives in Baton Rouge and the hometown LSU Tigers were the runner-up and his brother signed with the Tigers in the 2025 recruiting class.

But Bradford isn’t concerned about what the doubters are saying.

“I’m a man of my word,” Bradford started. “At the end of the day, other people can try. I don’t mind telling people about it, I don’t mind explaining myself, but I’m a man of my word and I plan on sticking to it.”

Bradford has backed up those words with his actions to this point. He only has one official visit scheduled, and that is to Ohio State in June. In an era where committed prospects don’t shut down their recruiting process, Bradford has kept it old school.

“I’ve seen it a lot, but I’ve never really understood why people committed and still took visits,” Bradford explained. “I feel like if you commit, you’re committing for a reason and you’re committing because you’re really selling yourself to that school. I feel like it would just be disrespectful for me to go out there and take other visits.”

Get more insight into Bradford’s mentality, his reasons for choosing the Buckeyes, his thoughts on Caleb Downs, and much more in this one-on-one interview with one of the crown jewels of the Ohio State recruiting class.