Nation's No. 1 QB Elijah Haven and No. 1 LB Cooper Witten Shine at Ohio State's Fourth Recruiting Camp As Buckeyes Offer 11 New Players

By Garrick Hodge on June 12, 2025 at 8:01 pm
Elijah Haven
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Ohio State’s fourth recruiting camp on Thursday offered by far and away the deepest collection of talent on the Buckeyes’ campus for any camp so far this summer.

Eleven players (Warriors?) received an offer following their workouts Thursday as of the early evening, the highest amount OSU has offered in a single camp in June. Yet, one of the more intriguing storylines of the day was around a player who hasn’t announced an offer, though it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of ability. 

Five-star Louisiana quarterback Elijah Haven headlined a talented group of signal callers Thursday, as he looked every bit the part of his billing as 2027’s No. 1 quarterback.

Haven stands at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds and throws an enviable spiral on many routes. His ball placement in one-on-ones was impeccable, and he was certainly a top performer at camp. 

It’s a pretty easy explanation to delve into why he hasn’t been offered yet — Ohio State already has a quarterback committed in the 2027 class, and Brady Edmunds has been both a great ambassador of the university and had flashes to dream on during his three camps with the Buckeyes. It’s why the Buckeyes haven’t offered a single 2027 quarterback who’s worked out with OSU so far despite having several high-profile players appear on campus. 

Yet, Ohio State is clearly doing its due diligence on the 2027 class in case it would like to add another signal-caller for that cycle. It’s a good bet the Buckeyes will continue to evaluate those quarterbacks who camped with them this fall. 

If having the No. 1 quarterback on campus wasn’t enough, Ohio State also hosted 2027’s No. 1-rated linebacker Cooper Witten, the son of NFL legendary tight end Jason Witten. Witten told Eleven Warriors following the camp that Ohio State is in the top five in his recruitment. 

“I learned a lot today,” Cooper said. “James Laurinaitis is a great coach, he's played the position at a high level in the NFL, so he taught me a lot over the course of this camp. A lot of good points to bring back to my high school.”

We’ll have more on Witten’s interest in OSU in the coming days. In the meantime, let’s break down each player who earned an offer from the Buckeyes.

Four-star 2026 defensive lineman Valdin Sone 

Each camp season, a bunch of international recruits work out with the Buckeyes as part of the PPI DreamChasers tour. That program produced OSU former defensive tackle Hero Kanu a few cycles ago. Ryan Day and Larry Johnson offered Sone on Thursday, a 6-foot-3, 316-pound defensive tackle in the 2026 cycle. Sone currently resides in Virginia but is from Sweden originally. Things would have to move pretty quickly here, considering Sone has an official visit lined up to Georgia this weekend and Oklahoma next weekend. But it’s interesting to see the Buckeyes enter the recruitment at this stage.

Five-star 2027 wide receiver Quentin Burrell

The 2027 class is the year of the wideout in the Midwest, apparently. Ohio State offered Burrell on Thursday following a strong camp. The Illinois wide receiver is considered the No. 24 prospect and No. 6 wide receiver in his cycle per 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Four-star 2027 defensive tackle Brayden Parks

Parks was a force to be reckoned with during one-on-ones, leading Larry Johnson to offer the top-240 prospect. Parks is a Chicago resident and has numerous Power Four offers to his name, including Notre Dame and Oregon.

Four-star 2027 wide receiver Miguel Whitley

Whitley may have had the best individual day of any wide receiver at the camp, frankly. The Louisiana standout had a nice diving catch in one-on-ones and won most of his reps against a variety of defensive backs. It was easy to see why Brian Hartline took a liking to the top-215 prospect.

Four-star 2027 cornerback Josiah Molden

Molden had arguably the best performance of all defensive backs Thursday and made his first trip to Ohio all the way from Oregon to obtain an offer from the Buckeyes. The top-150 prospect accomplished his mission and told Eleven Warriors he was impressed by Ohio State on his trip and had wanted an offer from the Buckeyes for quite a while. Molden is the younger brother of former Washington standout and current Tennessee Titans wide receiver Elijah Molden.

Three-star 2027 running back Xavier Bala

If you ever have the pleasure of watching OSU running backs coach Carlos Locklyn during a recruiting camp, you know that he’s an intense figure who holds his tailbacks to a high standard. Locklyn worked out a few running backs following the conclusion of the camp, and offered Bala from that group. Bala is a 5-foot-11, 202-pound running back from New York with several Power Four offers to his name.

2027 safety Emmanuel Moses

Moses is the younger brother of former Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses. He had a strong day in individual drills and provided coverage in one-on-one competition, with Matt Guerrieri offering instruction early and often throughout the day. OSU is one of Moses’ first Division I offers, so we’ll see where the relationship goes from here.

2027 linebacker Zayden Smith

Ohio State was only the fourth school to offer Smith thus far in his recruitment, but the 6-foot-4, 200-pound linebacker had an impressive day at camp and earned the opportunity. Outside of Witten, he stood out more than any other linebacker at OSU’s camp.

2028 defensive end Kellan Hall

Hall has all the makings of one of the top defensive ends in his cycle. His frame at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds at his age impressed Johnson enough to pull the trigger on offering him, and he has all the heavy hitters on his offer sheet that you’d expect. Hall could become a household name in recruiting circles within a year or two.

2028 quarterback Lukas Prock

Like Zayden Smith and Emmanuel Moses, OSU is one of the first teams to offer Prock in his recruitment, which certainly doesn’t happen often. Prock held his own in a strong quarterback grouping Thursday and fared well in both drills and one-on-ones.

2029 quarterback Ty Snell

Snell has officially become the first quarterback Ohio State has offered in his cycle, and only the second player overall. He certainly didn’t look like a player who’s only entering his freshman year of high school, but he was a prolific passer on Thursday and offers unlimited upside. 

Other notes

  • 2026 three-star wide receiver Zion Legree, a former Ole Miss commit, worked out in front of Brian Hartline today, hoping to earn an offer. That didn’t happen on Thursday, but depending on how things shake out, Hartline and company may continue to evaluate him into the fall and go from there.
  • Four-star 2027 Michigan tight end Anthony Cartwright already had an Ohio State offer entering Thursday’s camp, but had an impressive day regardless. The Buckeyes are going to have plenty of intriguing options at the position for that cycle. 
  • Tavien St. Clair’s younger brother, Reign St. Clair, camped with OSU on Thursday and will be back next week competing at one of the Buckeyes’ 7-on-7 tournaments. Ohio State certainly wouldn't mind Reign having the same growth spurt Tavien did a year from now and developing into another promising quarterback.
  • As of publication, Tyler Bowen has not offered a single offensive lineman yet through Ohio State’s first four recruiting camps of the summer. It’s not necessarily a bad thing and plenty of kids who camped at OSU within the past two weeks could still get an offer in the future. But it’s a tidbit that interests me regardless. Though in fairness, Bowen was basically cosplaying as Oprah in the spring and offering numerous amounts of offensive linemen in different classes, so it’s possible that he already made a lot of his evaluations for the 2027 class.
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