USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.
We begin in Columbus, where Ohio State has already lost one elite recruit in the 2024 cycle. The No. 1 overall player and top-ranked quarterback Dylan Raiola de-committed from the Buckeyes in December and seems to be deciding between reigning two-time champion Georgia and Nebraska, where he has family ties.
On the bright side, Ryan Day and company still have the No. 1 wide receiver in the class in Jeremiah Smith. However, it’s a long way from signing time, and Smith is evaluating his options. According to Ryan Wright at Rivals, Smith has official visits set for Florida and Miami. He’s also looking into both Georgia and Florida State.
Smith (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) is not only the best wide receiver in his class, he’s ranked second overall behind Raiola. Needless to say, losing both would be devastating for the Buckeyes’ recruiting outlook for 2024 and beyond.
Then again, even if they eventually lose Smith’s commitment, it’s not the end of the road. If the recruitments of 2023’s top cornerback Cormani McClain and quarterback Jaden Rashada have taught us anything, this new-look NIL/recruiting game is more fluid than ever. McClain initially committed to Florida, then flipped to Miami, then finally settled on signing with Colorado. Meanwhile, Rashada committed to Miami, signed with Florida and wound up with Arizona State.
In other words, don’t expect this to be a settled matter anytime soon. The competition for Smith may eventually become even more fierce than it was for those two. According to On3, Smith has offers from 41 different programs to choose from.