The Hurry-Up: Four-star 2025 Safety Messiah Delhomme Says Ohio State is in “My Top Three” and Payton Pierce is a Finalist for the Butkus Award

By Garrick Hodge on November 24, 2023 at 8:05 pm
Messiah Delhomme
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2025 Virginia safety Messiah Delhomme has been on Ohio State’s radar for about five weeks.

The four-star prospect was first contacted by the Buckeyes’ coaching staff last month and was told OSU had interest in him, and wanted him to make a gameday visit in Columbus. Delhomme attended the Buckeyes’ final home game of the 2023 season last week and watched OSU’s 37-3 win over Minnesota. He left town with a scholarship offer to play for Ohio State, with the offer coming from Ryan Day himself.

“It was a very exciting and enjoyable moment,” Delhomme told Eleven Warriors of receiving his OSU offer. “(Coach Day) didn’t really get too much into detail, but we were talking about how I’d be a really good fit for the program and how campus and the atmosphere were.”

Delhomme also spent time with OSU safeties coach Perry Eliano on the visit and had a productive conversation.

“He was talking to me about how I’d be a great fit in the DB room and how I’d be treated like family if I came to Columbus,” Delhomme said. “He also told me some overall things about the school.” 

Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Delhomme is considered the 224th-ranked prospect and the 16th-best safety in the 2025 class. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound prospect has 16 Division I offers, including Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Liberty, James Madison, Maryland, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. While OSU is primarily recruiting him as a safety, some of his offers from other schools are as a wide receiver or running back.

“(Ohio State) is definitely in my top three,” Delhomme said. “The way the defense is, I really like how they fly around to the ball and make plays. I really like the campus and everybody was really friendly. My visit was a really good experience. 

Delhomme is a two-way player for Warwick High School (Newport News, Virginia), where he was an All-District selection on both offense and defense this season. In his sophomore year, Delhomme registered 61 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a whopping eight interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Offensively, he recorded 74 carries for 827 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns while catching 28 passes for 575 yards and three receiving scores.

“I’m able to make plays wherever coaches need me to,” Delhomme said.

Delhomme said he hopes to make a college decision sometime in the summer before the start of his senior year. He plans on making another visit to OSU sometime this spring. 

Payton Pierce finalist for high school Butkus Award

One of Ohio State’s linebacker commits in the 2024 class is a finalist for a major award nationally. Four-star Texas product Payton Pierce was announced as a finalist for the high school Butkus Award earlier this week along with Sammy Brown, Brayden Platt, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Justin Williams. 

The winner will be announced on Dec. 6. The 2023 Butkus Award winners will be honored at an event on Jan. 27, 2024, at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino in Rancho Mirage Spa in Rancho Mirage, California. The event will memorialize namesake Dick Butkus and feature numerous noted NFL alumni.

Pierce committed to Ohio State on April 11.

"I think just the type of players that they have on the team and just how competitive the environment is, it just really fits me the way that they're coached, the way they practice and the way their defense is ran," Pierce told Eleven Warriors in the spring of why he committed to the Buckeyes. "I just really think it fits me better than all the other schools I've been recruited to. The environment is one I want to be in, you're with a bunch of guys that want to be the best, have the standard of being the best and are going to college to be the best. I want to be a part of it and lead those guys in my class. I also have great relationships with the coaches, I feel like they not only can make me the best player I can be but also the best person." 

Social media reaction to Gabe VanSickle’s commitment

In case you missed it while you were eating Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, Ohio State added another offensive line commitment in the 2024 class in Gabe VanSickle. VanSickle decommitted from Northwestern on Tuesday, then committed to OSU two days later. 

Following VanSickle’s commitment, various OSU staff members and fellow recruits took to Twitter to celebrate the addition. We’ve compiled some of their reactions below.

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