COLUMBUS – Players can go to as many of the Ohio State football camps as they would like and offensive lineman Jordan Hall is taking advantage of that, already participating in a pair and with plans to come back and work out for the Buckeyes coaches.
The 6-foot-8, 340-pounder from nearby Kipp Academy already holds 10 offers including one from Penn State but does not have the hometown offer from Ohio State, but not for lack of trying.
It is a remarkable story if you think that Hall has been playing football for only one season and that season saw the former basketball star starting out with the junior varsity team before being elevated.
Hall still has a way to go but the size checks off all the boxes and the heart is certainly there as well. Now it is a matter of trying to catch up with players who have years on him in terms of playing the game.
Football is there to open a lot of doors for Hall, something that is not lost on him.
“The coaches were telling me that it’d be able to help me get to college,” Hall said after the Tuesday camp.
That Tuesday camp was Hall’s second visit after taking part in the Monday camp as well. Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye has given Hall things to work on while head coach Ryan Day has been present as well to encourage the big lineman to keep striving.
Frye and Day will have more opportunities to work with Hall as it is only a short drive within Franklin County to get to Ohio State.
“I’ll be back on the 14th or 15th for camp again,” Hall said.
The Buckeyes have three offensive linemen committed in the class of 2023 already with Luke Montgomery, Joshua Padilla and Austin Siereveld in the fold. Offensive line recruiting is of utmost importance every season, but the Buckeyes really have that much more of a focus on it this year as depth concerns are very real with the position and graduation after the ’22 season will thin the ranks even more.
Hall knows he has a lot of work still to do but he feels that he has shown the Ohio State coaches what could be in the future with the right opportunity.
An offer from the hometown team would be a very big deal for the very big lineman.
“It would mean the world to me,” Hall said. “It would be a dream come true.”
The emotions would be real.
“I would probably cry, not going to lie to you,” Hall said.
The Buckeyes have told Hall that they will assess everything that he does at the camps and let him know where he stands at the end of June. Even if an offer does not come at that point, the Buckeyes would surely keep tabs on Hall and wait for the first couple game tapes from the 2022 season.
But Hall knows that putting in the work right now means a lot as it shows the Buckeyes just how serious he is about football and wanting to earn that offer.
“I feel like it shows them that I am in love with the game,” Hall added. “I am here to work; I am here to earn the offer.”
Check out what else Hall had to say in this post-camp interview.
