Five-star wide receiver Vernell Brown III sets commitment date
COLUMBUS — Ohio State will find out if it will land the next member of Zone 6 in 12 days.
Five-star Orlando (Fla) Jones wide receiver Vernell Brown III announced he will make his commitment on July 21. Brown has a final group of schools that includes Florida, Florida State, Miami and Ohio State. The 5-foot-10.5, 173-pound Sunshine State prospect is the No. 33 overall prospect and the No. 6 wide receiver in the On3 Industry Rankings. That’s not too far off of where On3 has Brown ranked, No. 38 overall and No. 6 wide receiver.
He’s made a few visits to Ohio State throughout his recruitment, highlighted by his official visit the first weekend of June.
Brown once was a heavy Ohio State lean, but things have shifted in his recruitment. It’s coming down to Florida or Florida State. The Gators hold a commanding lead in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine at 87.8 percent. There are currently six predictions on Billy Napier’s program to land the highly-coveted wide receiver. Brown is a two-time Gator legacy with his father playing there and his grandfather a graduate.
Ohio State currently has three wide receivers committed to its 2025 class including Quincy Porter, a borderline five-star. Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline would like to add one more, but it’s unlikely that Brown will be the one.
Hartline signed two five stars in the 2024 cycle with Jeremiah Smith and Mylan Graham. We mentioned Porter, but De’Zie Jones and Bodpegn Miller are also committed to the 2025 class. Ohio State is the favorite, for now, with four-star Mission Viejo (Calif) wide receiver Phillip Bell. And don’t forget, three-star Pickerington (Ohio) North wide receiver Preston Bowman announced an Ohio State offer in June. He is currently committed to Kentucky.
While Brown’s decision date is known, a time is yet to be determined.
