Reign St. Clair is not yet one of the top quarterback prospects in his recruiting class, but he doesn’t need to look far to find the blueprint for how to become one.
Entering his sophomore year at Bellefontaine High School, Tavien St. Clair was just starting to emerge as a quarterback to watch in the 2025 recruiting class. Entering his junior year, Tavien earned an offer from Ohio State – even though he was still considered just a three-star recruit at the time – and committed to the Buckeyes a month later. By his senior year, Tavien was a five-star recruit, ultimately finishing the 2025 recruiting cycle as the No. 3 quarterback and No. 7 overall prospect in his class.
Now, it’s his younger brother’s turn to be the starting quarterback at Bellefontaine and go through his own recruitment.
Even though he hasn’t yet started a game for the Chieftains, Reign St. Clair already has a scholarship offer from Eastern Kentucky, which he received last month. The rising sophomore hasn’t yet received any FBS offers – Tavien, by comparison, had six FBS offers entering his sophomore year – but that could change as he goes through his first season as a starter and college coaches have more game film to watch.
In a pair of camp appearances at Ohio State over the past two weeks – one at a one-day skill camp and one at Ohio State’s final 7-on-7 tournament of the summer with his Bellefontaine teammates – Reign showed that there’s reason to keep an eye on how he develops over the next three years.
The younger St. Clair still has a long way to go in his development, both physically and a passer, if he’s going to emerge as an elite prospect like his brother. At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he doesn’t yet have the size and arm strength that his 6-foot-4, 225-pound brother does now as an Ohio State freshman. But Tavien didn’t look the way he does now, physically or as a passer, when he was entering his sophomore year either.
Reign also has the advantage of having watched Tavien’s development throughout his high school career, giving Reign an example to emulate as well as a great mentor to lean on.
“Just seeing him putting in the work and seeing all the opportunities that he got going along, it definitely drove me to start putting in work,” Reign told Eleven Warriors last week. “I started to see like how it really helps, how lifting helps, how throwing helps, how getting guys out there to the field with you really helps, so I know I got to do that.”
Reign says Tavien has already played an integral role in helping him grow as a quarterback.
“He would take me out to the field at our high school and he'd help me with footwork or arm movements or like getting my mind right, getting my just everything right before a game or anything like that,” Reign said.
Thanks to his brother, Reign’s also had – and will continue to have – the opportunity to spend plenty of time around Ohio State. That’s given him the chance to get to know Ohio State’s coaches and players, and they’ve made a great impression on him so far.
“There's been some coaching changes here out of all the times I've came in here, but really every time I come here, the guys that are here are really great,” Reign said. “They always welcome us in, and they're always great and just have good conversations with them.”
Reign says Tavien has already learned a lot in his first year at Ohio State that the older brother has been able to relay to his younger brother.
“Reading coverages or reading like defensive line, linebackers, DBs, safeties, and just footwork moving up and through pockets and stuff like that, that’s definitely helped,” Reign said.
Reign is looking forward to being back at Ohio Stadium this fall to watch Tavien play his first snaps as a Buckeye.
“We've always talked about it when we were younger and stuff like that, it's always been a dream, and now that I can see him do it, it's really awesome,” Reign said.
Whether Ohio State will ultimately recruit Reign to become a Buckeye like his brother remains to be determined. So far, Ohio State has offered six quarterbacks in the 2028 recruiting class, with a pair of Floridians – Neimann Lawrence and Wonderful “Champ” Monds IV – looking like top early targets.
That said, Reign has dreamed about the possibility of one day wearing the scarlet and gray like Tavien.
“If they were to offer me and that was the best development place for me, then yeah, this would definitely be the best place,” Reign said of Ohio State.
Congrats lil bro keep working and Gods got you covered! https://t.co/JMMNuKwdNS
— Tavien St. Clair (@TJSaint_1) May 28, 2025
For now, Reign is considering all options with his recruitment still in its infancy. In addition to camping at Ohio State twice, Reign also camped at Cincinnati earlier this month and will camp at South Florida this weekend after being invited to camp there by USF’s coaching staff.
As he starts to get recruited, Reign said he’ll be looking for a school where he feels at home and where the coaches have a strong track record of quarterback development.
“I would definitely say how the feel is, if I feel comfortable being there. I'd definitely say the coaches with development and stuff, look in the past and see the quarterbacks that they've had before and look at the development of them as they went on,” Reign said.
With camp season nearing its end, however, Reign’s primary focus is on preparing for his first season leading the Bellefontaine offense. He’s entering his sophomore year with high confidence in himself, in part because of the success he’s seen his brother have, and his goal is to be even better than Tavien was a Chieftain.
“I would say first team all-conference. Obviously a lot of touchdowns, obviously try to beat his records,” Reign said of his goals entering his first year as a starter.
