Justin Haire's rebuild of the Buckeyes starts with recruiting: 'I think Ohio State has a unique draw'

COLUMBUS – Justin Haire has a tall task in front of him as he looks to build the Ohio State baseball program into a Big Ten power, both on and off the field.

The work has already started for Haire on the recruiting trail, however. Haire has received several commitments from both high school and transfer portal prospects since being named the Ohio State head coach on June 21, and there are more on the way.

Almost all of those commitments have come from in-state prospects: either high school recruits that want to stay in state or transfers that want to return home.

Haire understands the importance of recruiting the state of Ohio at Ohio State.

“I mean, I think it’s the fifth or sixth-biggest state in the country,” Haire told Lettermen Row. “So anytime that you have a good population of people, you’re going to have good high school athletics, and baseball is really important in this state. I think in all the places I’ve been, there aren’t a whole lot of other states where baseball is so important. High school football, obviously, is huge in the state but right behind that is high school baseball. And so anytime you pair those two things together with a good population of people with a lot of importance placed on one sport, you tend to have a lot of really good athletes. 

“It’s probably in the top five or six best states in the country. We’ve got to do a really good job of keeping the right guys here and making sure that they’re playing at Ohio State.”

Haire knows that Ohio State has a special pull with transfer portal prospects that are from Ohio and want to finish their college careers in their home state.

“I think Ohio State has a unique draw to it in today’s recruiting world with the portal,” Haire said. “You have to figure out what your niche in the portal is because everybody’s going to be different. Some people are going to have high amounts of NIL dollars to be able to work with, some are going to have facilities — there’s different draws for everybody.”

“So for us being the flagship university of the state, we’ve got to use that to our advantage. If there’s guys that have gone elsewhere, that are getting in the portal and are all Ohio guys, we’ve got to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to get those best players back into the state of Ohio because that’s a draw for us. We’ve got to figure out that niche and when we do and when we really hone in on it, we’ve got to do a good job of hammering that.”

The success of the Ohio State athletic department, specifically the football program, can also help Haire and his coaching staff on the recruiting trail. 

Whether it’s getting a prospect inside Ohio Stadium for a football game official visit or a prospect simply seeing an Ohio State game on TV, the scope of the Buckeyes’ brand can benefit the Ohio State baseball program. 

“I think it’s going to be hugely beneficial,” Haire said. “I think that we can get into living rooms and dorm rooms and junior colleges and high schools across the country with a lot easier access. Not that we couldn’t do that at other places, or when we were at Campbell. I think making sure that our guys have that [Ohio State fan] experience and recruits have that experience when they come on campus [can be] a draw for some guys. And that’s a benefit that we have that other places don’t, and we’ve got to capitalize on that to the best of our ability.”

Additionally, Haire has assembled his staff in a way that should help Ohio State succeed on the recruiting trail. 

Assistant coach Tyler Robinson has held the title of “recruiting coordinator” at previous coaching stops, as has assistant Joey Holcomb, and Ohio State’s third assistant will have the title of director of recruiting. Haire held the “recruiting coordinator” position at Campbell as well prior to being named the Camels’ head coach. 

“With the NCAA opening up some other opportunities for more guys to be on the road, I think that recruiting experience is really, really important. Having different niches, having different connections and having different relationships — not just in the Midwest but nationwide — is going to be really important for us. So having guys that understand what we’re looking for, that we’ve worked with before, that have a ton of recruiting experience that have been on the road, that can be organized and flow through two or three different classes all at the same time, is really important for our ability to hit the ground running.”

Haire has his third assistant coach hire in mind, and it should be finalized in early August. In the meantime, Haire, Robinson and Holcomb are headed to Atlanta next week for the Prep Baseball Report Futures Game as their search for the next generation of Buckeyes begins.