Former Ohio State OL commit Marc Nave begins official visit to Kentucky

Mark Stoops is looking to beef up the future of the Big Blue Wall. He’ll welcome a big-time visitor to Lexington this weekend with the intention of doing just that.

Marc Nave, a class of 2024 three-star offensive lineman who recently decommitted from Ohio State, is set to begin his official visit with Kentucky today (Friday, Oct. 13). His visit will run through Sunday as the Toledo (OH) Central Catholic product will be in Lexington to check out Saturday night’s UK football game against Missouri at Kroger Field.

Nave announced on Sept. 30 that he was backing off his pledge to the Buckeyes. Since then, he’s picked up offers from Purdue, Arizona State, and South Florida. Prior to choosing Ohio State in March of this year, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound lineman held offers from the likes of Georgia, Auburn, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Louisville, Duke, Indiana, Cincinnati, and plenty more.

OV set! BBN what’s up? #wildcats pic.twitter.com/VCaYU0dpvV

— Marc Nave (@marcnavejr) October 10, 2023

Kentucky was actually the third school to offer Nave and the first Power 5 program to do so, which he announced on social media all the way back in May 2022. He’s being primarily recruited by associate head coach Vince Marrow, who has strong ties to the state of Ohio. This will be Nave’s second-ever visit to UK (Sept. 2022 was the first) and his first visit to any program since backing off his commitment to Ohio State. He currently has no other visits on the docket, although that could easily change.

At Central Catholic, Nave has primarily played offensive tackle, but Ohio State had plans to slide him into an offensive guard role once he arrived in college, reports Lettermen Row. The Buckeyes already have three offensive linemen rated higher than Nave on their board for the 2024 class, headlined by four-star Ian Moore. This was believed to be a mutual parting of ways between Nave — who grew up a Buckeyes fan — and OSU.

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, Nave is considered the No. 629 overall high school senior in the country and a top 50 offensive lineman. He’s viewed as a work-in-progress prospect, but one with plenty of long-term potential. Kentucky currently has three offensive linemen committed to the 2024 class — all considered three-star recruits — with Aba Selm, Hayes Johnson, and Jadon Lafontant.

“Nave is a raw, but extremely bright and physical force on the offensive line,” Matt Parker of Lettermen Row wrote when Nave first committed to Ohio State. “The 6-foot-5, 313-pound interior offensive lineman projects best as a guard at the next level. He will take some retooling and development, but he was one of the fastest-rising prospects this past fall in Ohio and across the country.

“Nave is more impressive in the run game and gets on his tracks pretty quickly compared to others. His pass sets are solid, but against stiffer competition like what he’ll see at Ohio State, it will take some time to see improvement.”

Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class ranks 24th in the country, according to On3, although that’s only good enough for 13th in the SEC.