Chris Henry Jr. sticks with Ohio State, ending days of speculation

Chris Henry Jr. announced Friday on The Pat McAfee Show that he would stick with Ohio State, putting an end to a turbulent period since the morning of National Signing Day when he learned that longtime Buckeyes assistant coach Brian Hartline was taking the USF head coaching job.

“I made my decision a couple years ago and it was for the right choice,” Henry said on the McAfee Show. “Taking my time to think about it and step back, even though Hartline did leave, Ohio State has been in my heart since I committed. I’ll be staying home at The Ohio State University.”

The five-star receiver from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei learned about 30 minutes before his school’s signing day ceremony was to start that Hartline was leaving Columbus, a major reason why Henry picked the Buckeyes in the first place was his longstanding relationship with USF’s new coach, and Henry decided not to sign on Wednesday.

That unleashed a wild torrent of speculation leading into his announcement on Friday.

Immediately, Oregon became the school du jour since Henry had serious interest in the Ducks throughout his recruitment and they never stopped pursuing him.

However, after five-star receiver Jalen Lott worked through some NIL language with Oregon and eventually signed on Thursday, there was chatter that the Ducks might be done with this recruiting class.

“Ducks vs. Bucks,” one source said.

According to a report by Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong, Ohio State coach Ryan Day got involved again with Henry over the last couple days and stated that the Buckeyes have had nine receivers taken in the first round of the NFL Draft and Oregon has had none and that it was a collective effort to get that done, not solely Hartline’s accomplishments.

USC had continually been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Henry but sources said incessantly over the last 48 hours and even before that as pre-signing day speculation ran rampant that the Trojans were not a main contender for the Mater Dei receiver.

On Wednesday, four-star Mater Dei receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt had flipped from Ohio State to USC partly because some in his orbit wanted him closer to home maybe even at a reduced NIL price.

Henry’s recruitment got even murkier – if that’s possible – in the last 24 hours as Texas entered the picture and took its shot with the five-star receiver. Longhorns position coach Chris Jackson is a Mater Dei alum and has connections throughout California but Texas, while recruiting Henry for a long time, was always on the fringes of this one.

On Friday morning, Wiltfong and Pete Nakos reported that LSU was taking a swing as well as new coach Lane Kiffin looked to hit a grand slam in the days after being hired in Baton Rouge. But things had gotten too hectic and scattershot for LSU to reel him in this late in the early signing period.

Southern California is a massive area but the high school football community is a niche group and people were talking well before signing day whether Henry would flip or stick with the Buckeyes if Hartline left, what felt like an inevitability at some point because of his reputation as someone with all the characteristics of a head coach.

Even leading up to Friday morning’s announcement, there was speculation that USC would still swoop in somehow and land him, that he’d end up at Oregon even after Lott signed, that maybe Texas or LSU could pull off a stunner or that, in the end, Ohio State was where he wanted to be all along and he’d swallow the fact that he couldn’t play for Hartline after all.

With Henry’s announcement to stick with the Buckeyes, everyone has their answer. Finally.