Troy Bowles dominates Buckeyes camp, Walter Nolen stops by campus

Stay in touch or be left out because Ohio State recruiting is a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week obsession. What’s the latest news as the Buckeyes build for the future? Get that and more Sunday through Thursday on Lettermen Row. Today we catch up on a new offer in the Class of 2023, what a visit from Walter Nolen may mean and thoughts about Sonny Styles, the top overall player for Ohio State in the 2023 class.

Ohio State offers Florida standout Troy Bowles

Being the son of former NFL head coach meant that Troy Bowles, a 2023 linebacker from Florida, was destined to be well schooled in the game. His athleticism and instincts, combined with that football IQ passed down from father Todd Bowles, helped him earn an Ohio State offer on Tuesday afternoon. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound star at Tampa Jesuit ripped off a 4.59 in the 40-yard dash to start the day, then spent the next two hours impressing Buckeyes linebacker coach Al Washington.

Washington also impressed Bowles.

“It was nice having him coach me throughout the day,” Bowles told Lettermen Row. “It was good getting some one-on-one time with him at the end. He was focused on finishing, no matter what happens in a drill. If you mess up, finish through and it’s going to be all right.”

The offer to Bowles was No. 30 for him. He’s not put any kind of top-schools list together, but he knows that the Ohio State offer means something different.

“I have a lot of interest in the Buckeyes,” he said. “I grew up watching them. They’re obviously the big school in the Big Ten and it’s exciting. I like it a lot. It’s a lot of people’s dream school, and it’s just a good place.”

With the focus on finding versatile linebackers who can play the run and the pass, a prospect like Bowles fits the profile of what Ohio State is looking for.

“With my athleticism and speed, I could stick with receivers, running backs and tight ends,” Bowles said. “I like linebacker in general. I like playing outside, but I like cover linebacker, too.”

Bowles is the fourth 2023 linebacker to earn a Buckeyes offer to this point.

Walter Nolen visits Buckeyes on his way to Ann Arbor

So, the country’s No. 1-ranked defensive prospect in the Class of 2022 was in Columbus on Tuesday. Yes, Walter Nolen visited the Buckeyes.

The incredibly freaky, remarkably talented Nolen arrived in town on Monday night and spent a couple of hours at the Ohio State football facilities. He met with Larry Johnson, and that reportedly went well. But it was a quick unofficial visit made before he heads to Michigan for his official visit with the Wolverines.

Florida, LSU, Michigan, Georgia and Alabama have all been prominently featured in Nolen’s recruitment to this point. Tennessee is trying to get back into the mix for the 5-star lineman as well, and the Buckeyes are more than willing to recruit him if he’s sincerely interested in being recruited by the program.

At this point, the odds of that happening still appear to be very, very low. A decision is expected by Nolen prior to the start of his senior season.

Sonny Styles, Notre Dame crystal balls, Ohio State visits

The first crystal ball prediction for 5-star 2023 athlete Sonny Styles was made over the weekend: Notre Dame.

There’s no doubt that the Irish are a very serious contender for the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Ohio State target and should be considered a real threat to the Buckeyes. But after talking with Styles on Tuesday — he was at the Buckeyes one-day supporting an out-of-town cousin who was camping at Ohio State — it seems premature to think his recruitment is anywhere near decided. He spent a lot of time with Ryan Day, Kerry Coombs and the Buckeyes staff yesterday and will spend more time with them today when he camps for the second time this month.

Notre Dame is where Sonny’s older brother, Lorenzo, is a freshman receiver. He’ll clearly spend a lot of time on the South Bend campus this upcoming fall for games when he and his family go support Lorenzo. He’s also still a kid who grew up in Columbus, loving the Buckeyes with a father who played at Ohio State. There will be a lot of things to consider here moving forward.

Styles will make a round of college visits over the next two weeks in the south, checking out all the biggest programs in SEC and ACC country. There’s a long way to go in this battle, but it’s hard to ever bet against the Buckeyes for a player like Styles right in their own backyard.

2024 Texas quarterback has ‘dream visit’ with Buckeyes

Looking for a quarterback name to know down the road? Let’s introduce Carter Noyes from The Woodlands (Texas) College Park.

Noyes was one of a handful of young quarterbacks working with Ohio State on Tuesday, and he threw the ball well. He’s just under 6-foot-1 now, but doctors expect him to get considerably taller — his older brother is 6-foot-6. He’s worked with a couple of very well-respected national quarterback trainers in Quincy Avery and Danny Hernandez, and he has deep Ohio ties. The chance to see what Ohio State was about, in person, was very meaningful to Noyes.

“My dad Grew up in Gahanna,” Noyes told Lettermen Row. “And all of my dad’s uncles and aunts and cousins and my cousins live in the Cincinnati area. We did a two-hour facility tour, then the recruiting office took us over to campus and showed us around. I took some pictures with the uniform on, and [Ohio State recruiting staff member] Weston [Zernechel] took my dad and I to the ‘Shoe and on to the field to see what it was like.

“It was amazing. The campus is beautiful. It’s absolutely a dream come true. I got to see C.J. Stroud walk in to go lift and Garrett Wilson, Jaxon-Smith Njigba, TreVeyon Henderson, Kyle McCord and a few other players playing basketball while we were walking through the facility. Being an Ohio State fan my whole life, and this being my dream school? This was definitely a very big dream come true.”

The dream visit had some real important moments though. Working with Corey Dennis and Todd Fitch gave Noyes a chance to improve his game. He saw firsthand why the Buckeyes are one of the country’s elite programs.

“They told me to keep working on all of the small details in my craft,” Noyes said. “And do that before I work on the major things. Little things like footwork, timing, drops — where to put the ball and just little things like that. Having gone to other big school camps, this one just felt different. The intensity level was very business-like but I also had an absolute blast at it.

“When the coaches spoke to me, the words have weight and meaning to them. They are trying to make me become a better football player and trying to develop me to my full potential.”