Ohio State offer, visit puts Buckeyes firmly in mix for Peyton Woodyard

COLUMBUS — Don’t tell Peyton Woodyard that Ohio is a flyover state.

He thought he knew what he was getting when he visited Ohio State for the first time. That perspective changed before the 2024 prospect from St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) even hit the ground.

“It’s not just the facilities, because facilities are nice at all the colleges I’ve visited,” Woodyard told Lettermen Row. “But I kind of expected to be in the middle of nowhere. Growing up that’s what I thought of Columbus, Ohio. But there’s a lot of stuff to do. They’ve got the whole package.

“As we were getting close to landing I was like: ‘Whoa, this is different than I thought.’ It’s big, there’s lakes, there’s a city, there’s everything.”

Woodyard measured in at just under 6-foot-2, 187 pounds ahead of Wednesday’s camp at Ohio State. He was offered on Thursday. He doesn’t look like a high school sophomore and doesn’t move like one either. Woodyard showed high-level footwork and was excellent when it came to changing direction. He’s a big-time prospect and will assuredly enter the 2024 rankings as a top-100 player. Every major school in the country will recruit him hard.

The chance to meet Buckeyes coaches early could go a long way for Ohio State.

“They definitely taught me new things,” Peyton Woodyard said. “Things that I can put in my tool belt. They really wanted us to go out there and compete and be physical. You can tell they’re elite.”

For Woodyard, there’s a big focus on life aside from football. He left Ohio State after two days in Columbus, going to visit Notre Dame while the majority of his teammates headed back home to California. That gave him and his father a chance to see a bit more of the Buckeyes campus.

“They people here are extremely friendly, on and off campus,” he said. “You can yell ‘O-H’ anywhere in the city and someone will yell ‘I-O’ back. This is an extremely large and diverse campus and a large student population, but the campus has a small-town vibe.”

St. John Bosco has produced a number of big-time college football stars in recent years, and the program sent Wyatt Davis and Kourt Williams to Ohio State. The tight-knit feel of Ryan Day’s program resonated with Peyton Woodyard.

“What stood out was the closeness of the team,” he said. “They’re all close. They all get along — and they all think they can play basketball. It was cool though to hang out with them, play golf and basketball. I’m one of them guys that likes to play all the sports.”

With two years of high school left, there’s plenty of time for Woodyard to figure out his future. This summer has shown him that there are real places to consider outside of California. He knows that Ohio State will be one of the schools that will be in the mix though.

The Buckeyes could make themselves an even bigger player in this recruitment if he’s able to get back to campus in the fall as he wants to.

“I would like to go back with my mom to check it out since she didn’t make this trip,” Peyton Woodyard said. “When I get home we will have to plan it. A game would be nice.”