Brian Hartline was busy during Ohio State's first official visit weekend of the summer.

The Buckeyes’ co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach hosted three 2025 wide receiver prospects − including Texas five-star Dakorien Moore, the No. 1 wide receiver in the country per 247Sports’ composite rankings – and Texas four-star Daylan McCutcheon.

And not to be lost in the shuffle was Florida four-star Vernell Brown III.

“Obviously I’m a priority for them and they’ve shown it throughout the entirety of the visit,” Brown said.

Ohio State is one of four finalists for Brown along with Florida State, Florida and Miami, each of which is scheduled to host him for an official visit. The Buckeyes were the first up for Brown, who is the No. 39 prospect and No. 6 receiver in the country.

As a junior at Jones High School in Orlando, Brown III recorded 1,404 receiving yards and 16 total touchdowns.

Vernell Brown Jr., Vernell Brown III’s father, said Ohio State “did an awesome job” addressing his son's main three priorities: building connections for life after football, building a brand and on-field development.

“It’s just a matter of reiterating how bad they want him to be a Buckeye and how much he can come into that room and kind of really be a piece that they don’t have,” Brown Jr. said. “His skill set is unique to most of those guys. All of those guys are obviously really good receivers, but his skill set is very unique and very different from pretty much everybody in that room.”

Vernell Brown III looking ahead to life after football during Ohio State official visit

Brown III said all three areas are important, and he's not focused solely on on-field development.

“I really enjoyed the branding and getting to meet different business people and learn a few things from them,” he said. “That was pretty cool.”

The emphasis on long-term thinking might come from his father, who was a former director of student-athlete development at his alma mater, Florida, where he played cornerback from 2001-05 and was a team captain.

“Ohio State did a great job of showing, not just telling you, what they can do," Brown Jr. said. "Kind of telling you the different guys that have been through the program, played and had successful careers not on that side of the fence. And using those connections to kind of build their portfolio so forth and so on to build generational wealth."

Brown III’s next three official visits come in his home state of Florida. But to Vernell Brown Jr., Ohio State has something many programs can’t offer.

"I mean, if you look at their track record and what they have been able to do with guys the last, you know, five, seven years, I think the program and the system kind of speak for itself,” Vernell Brown Jr. said.

Ohio State already has one wide receiver commitment in New Jersey four-star De’zie Jones, who will reportedly make his official visit Friday through Sunday.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: WR Vernell Brown III says Ohio State official visit was 'pretty cool'