Former Notre Dame WR Lorenzo Styles transfers to Ohio State
Lorenzo Styles is going home to continue his college career. The former Notre Dame wide receiver is transferring to Ohio State, he announced Saturday. He is expected to play defensive back for the Buckeyes.
Styles, a junior-to-be, is a Columbus-area native who played at Pickerington (Ohio) Central High School. His transfer to Ohio State means he will be teammates with his younger brother, Sonny, a sophomore safety for the Buckeyes. Their father, Lorenzo, was an Ohio State linebacker in the 1990s.
The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Styles entered the transfer portal April 21, one day before the Blue-Gold Game. He has two seasons of eligibility left. He will face his former team this season when Ohio State visits Notre Dame Stadium Sept. 23.
The two-year career arc at Notre Dame for Styles had no shortage of twists. It began with a freshman season that met his billing as the No. 70 recruit in the 2021 On3 Industry Ranking. Styles had 24 catches for 344 yards and 1 touchdown in 2021. He ended that debut season by hanging 8 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown on Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. He entered 2022 as the Irish’s top receiver.
Styles went backward as a sophomore, though, even while leading all Notre Dame wide receivers in catches (30) and finishing second in yards (340). Pro Football Focus credited him with six drops. Four of those came in a five-game span. He and head coach Marcus Freeman admitted those struggles became a mental hurdle. His playing time dwindled down the stretch. He had just seven catches in the final six games of 2022.
Notre Dame kept him at receiver to begin 2023 spring practice. A full viewing of April 12’s practice revealed another swerve in his career. Styles spent a position drill period with Notre Dame’s cornerbacks and played a rep there in team periods. Furthermore, he wasn’t among the first three receivers to take the field in seven-on-seven or 11-on-11.
Freeman confirmed a few days later that a move to cornerback was possible. The decision would be Styles’ to make, he said.
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Styles was intrigued enough by the end to spend an entire practice on defense. He planned to play both ways in the Blue-Gold Game and was drafted to the Gold team as an “athlete.”
“If they want me to go catch passes, I’ll catch passes and make some plays,” Styles said April 18. “If they want me to go lock some people down, I can do that too. I feel pretty confident in both.”
Styles played cornerback and receiver at Pickerington Central. Some of the schools that offered him in high school were recruiting him as an athlete who could end up at cornerback. Ohio State was believed to be among them.
All told, Styles had 54 catches for 684 yards and 2 touchdowns in his Notre Dame career. He is one of five former Notre Dame players the Irish will face in 2023, joining Duke defensive tackle Ja’Mion Franklin and three Pittsburgh players (quarterback Phil Jurkovec, running back C’Bo Flemister and linebacker Shayne Simon).
