Ohio State has welcomed 2025 composite four-star interior offensive lineman Jayvon McFadden as a new recruit. Credit: Samantha Hollingshead | Lantern File Photo
When offensive line coach Justin Frye said the Buckeyes wouldn’t be finished recruiting yet, he wasn’t lying.
Ohio State landed a commitment from 2025 composite four-star interior offensive lineman Jayvon McFadden Saturday, according to 247 Sports.
McFadden chose the Buckeyes over multiple other schools, including the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland. He will join offensive linemen Carter Lowe and Jake Cook as the third lineman and 25th overall recruit in next season’s class, according to 247 Sports.
McFadden graduated from Riverdale Baptist High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
In his time at Riverdale Baptist, McFadden earned MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors in 2021, being one of the top high school freshmen in the country at the end of his first football season, according to MaxPreps.
Fry said the team goes through an extensive process when evaluating potential players.
“As we go together, it’s like evaluating guys that we feel can come here and develop and play and help us to continue to win,” Frye said.
Head coach Ryan Day said Ohio State’s reputation for landing prominent recruits, such as McFadden, can be chalked up to one critical reason.
“Look at our guys,” Day said. “They are here because they want to be Buckeyes; they’re here because they want to win here.”
Despite acquiring McFadden, the Buckeyes continue their drought of five-star offensive line commitments, with the program’s last being Donovan Jackson in 2021, according to 247 Sports.
Frye said while he hopes to bring some of the top recruits in the country to Ohio State, the “five-star” moniker isn’t everything, and great players can arise through intentional development.
“I think you just look at the recent history all the way through; we had Paris and he was your national five-star guy,” Frye said. “Then we had two other draft picks there that weren’t five-star guys — Luke [Montgomery] wasn’t a five-star guy — good players and they got developed.”
Frye said the Buckeye staff will continue recruiting offensive linemen throughout the next few months, and he is working to the best of his ability to actively recruit the big men to Columbus.
“We’re not done yet,” Frye said. “I mean, you keep your head on a swivel [at Ohio State]. December is a long way away, and the weekends are coming up soon where guys get recruited — that’s what we have to do and that’s the coach’s job.”
