Signed: Ohio State avoids late collapse, Eddrick Houston heading to Columbus
The Early-Signing Period is here and Ohio State is set to once again bring in one of the country’s best recruiting classes. Lettermen Row is tracking the Buckeyes recruiting news throughout the signing period as 2024 commitments officially join the Ohio State football program. The latest Letter of Intent is in: Eddrick Houston has signed with the Buckeyes.
COLUMBUS — Eddrick Houston certainly made things interesting for Ohio State at the last minute.
The only defensive end committed to the Buckeyes took surprise visits to Clemson and Alabama during the final days of the contact period. But the visits led to nothing of consequence.
Eddrick Houston has honored his verbal commitment, signed his letter of intent and come January, will be an Ohio State Buckeye.
What does his addition to the program mean? Lettermen Row breaks it down.
Who is Eddrick Houston?
Eddrick Houston is a five-star EDGE from Buford, Georgia, and played his high school career at Buford. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end was a star player in the Peach State with a number of schools after him.
As mentioned above, Alabama and Clemson recruited Houston hard and didn’t stop all the way until he signed with the Buckeyes.
But Houston made his commitment in August and has stuck with it. It was a major recruiting win for Ohio State in the summer and even bigger now.
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 31 overall, No. 4 EDGE, No. 5 Georgia
On3 Ranking: No. 68 overall, No. 8 EDGE, No. 8 Georgia
Hometown: Buford, Georgia
High School: Buford High School
How did Houston end up at Ohio State?
Eddrick Houston is the rare prospect who saw veteran defensive line coach Larry Johnson and knew he needed to be in Columbus.
The Buckeyes hosted Houston on Easter Sunday and that visit proved to be the pivotal moment for him. He locked in his official visit for the five-star weekend that included KJ Bolden, Dylan Stewart and others.
Houston’s relationship with Johnson is as deep as they come. The opportunity to play for him was too much to pass up and he’s heading north to be part of that next lineage of impressive Ohio State defensive linemen.
“His development and coaching are really big for me,” Houston told On3 when he committed. “He has coached Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, Chase Young and others for the NFL. He knows how to coach, is great at teaching his players and I like his style. And he is already sending stuff to help me. And he shows me why he wants me and why he feels Ohio State is best for me. Coach Johnson was a big part of why I chose Ohio State, and he is a coach I know that can help me and get me to the next level.”
