Five-Star Plus+ WR Chris Henry Jr. sticks with Ohio State, will sign to Buckeyes

Throughout his two-year commitment to Ohio State, teams kept making a run at Chris Henry Jr. and trying to flip him.

At one point, he scheduled official visits to Miami, Oregon and USC. Eventually those got called off. The Ducks — along with Texas — made a late run at him before National Signing Day. He even delayed his signing, which was supposed to take place on Wednesday, after OSU receivers coach Brian Hartline took the head coaching job at USF.

The Ducks in particular pushed hard toward the end and made some significant financial offerings, according to multiple reports. But in the end, the chance to play close to home for a perennial national title contender was too good to pass up.

On Friday, he ended days of speculation and announced on the Pat McAfee Show that he was sticking with OSU and would sign with the Buckeyes.

Henry, an Ohio native, committed all the way back in July 2023. At the time, he was playing his high school ball in the Buckeye State. But prior to his junior season, he transferred to national powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. West Coast schools like USC and Oregon tried to crack open the door on his commitment, but despite a few unofficial visits, he never budged.

He sat out nearly all of his junior season due to a leg injury — and missed most of the summer recruiting camps and 7v7 events prior to his senior year. But fully healthy, he returned to form this fall at Mater Dei.

Henry rebounded with a big senior year

Across eight games, he caught 28 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns, averaging more than 21 yards per reception. He made multiple high-reel catches while playing in what’s regarded as the nation’s toughest high school football conference.

“I always knew what I was,” Henry told Rivals’ Adam Gorney last month. “I just feel like this season is showing other people what I could do. The injury, a lot of people didn’t get to see me my junior year. I felt like I flashed what I could do.”

The 6-foot-5, 205-pounder will sign as the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver and No. 7 recruit nationally, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services.

In doing so, he’ll become the third top-ranked wideout to sign with the Buckeyes since 2020.