Ohio State lands early visit from top QB prospect as Michigan and other rivals push hard
The Ohio State Buckeyes haven’t even offered a scholarship to 2027 top quarterback Elijah Haven just yet, but that hasn’t stopped Ryan Day and his staff from getting the five-star on campus this fall. Whether Day is waiting until Haven is in front of his face to maximize the impact of the offer remains to […]
The Ohio State Buckeyes haven’t even offered a scholarship to 2027 top quarterback Elijah Haven just yet, but that hasn’t stopped Ryan Day and his staff from getting the five-star on campus this fall. Whether Day is waiting until Haven is in front of his face to maximize the impact of the offer remains to be seen. But we do know that Haven will be at the Horseshoe at the end of August when Texas comes to Columbus.
The competition is already shaping up to be fierce for the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU obviously wants to keep him within the state, and is considered a top threat. But Michigan has especially emerged as the lead in this early process, so Day’s Buckeyes might need to step up if only to prevent Haven from succeeding Bryce Underwood.
Alabama and Florida also loom as major presences in this race. Haven’s father, Kwame, said the Buckeyes are just in the early phases of their efforts.
“That one is interesting,” Kwame said. “Don’t have an offer from them officially but they’ve been consistent with the outreach as well. I think their quarterback development speaks for itself when you talk about guys like CJ Stroud and before him Justin Fields and Dwayne Haskins. Even last year Will Howard. They made it a point to show us you can achieve high team success and kids are achieving success at an individual level. Coach (Ryan) Day’s offense is nice. It’s stable there. Stability and development are the two most important things to me.”
But Haven’s father was clear that Michigan’s efforts under new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey have helped them emerge as a favorite. He likes the idea of playing in the Big Ten and competing for championships. Ohio State can offer those positives as well.
The biggest threat to the Buckeyes might just be the Gators, though. Here’s what he said about what Gainesville offers as a city and how Florida supports its students.
“Gainesville, from what we can tell, is a great college town,” Kwame said. “The campus is extremely nice. They have what they call the GatorMade program which my wife and I are extremely excited about. The development and exposure for their players off the field, they travel internationally and do those type of things. They help them advance their careers outside of football. Also starting to get really close with coach (Billy) Napier and coach (Ryan) O’Hara and coach (Russ) Callaway. All three have been consistent with outreach and making us feel like a priority.”
Haven came to Ohio State in June for an unofficial visit, but has been to Michigan three times. We’ll continue to track whether the Buckeyes up their effort in this race throughout the season.
