The Ohio State wide receiver pipeline under Brian Hartline has been remarkable.

Chris Olave. Garrett Wilson. Marvin Harrison Jr. Emeka Egbuka.

Get ready for the next star.

When Ryan Day was asked about players who surprised him in training camp, the first player the Buckeyes’ coach mentioned by name was freshman receiver Carnell Tate.

“Carnell Tate continues to impress,” Day said. “To go through what he's been through this month, and then just to continue to show up every day and play the way he's playing, you're talking about someone who not only has talent but has maturity at a high level.”

Tate was the highest-rated player in OSU’s 2023 draft class. The five-star prospect was ranked No. 22 nationally by 247sports.com and impressed in spring practice as an early enrollee.

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Then in July, his mother, Ashley Griggs, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Chicago, his hometown. Such a tragedy could have derailed, at least temporarily, his progress on the field. No one would have faulted him if he needed extended time away to grieve.

But Tate returned to Columbus quickly and has dazzled.

“Carnell is going to be special, man,” Harrison said Tuesday. “I think Carnell is probably at a better point right now than I was going into my sophomore year last year. He's amazing.”

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Tate has the requisite physical tools – size, speed and good hands. But that’s not what necessarily makes him special.

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“As a football player, he is very mature,” said Hartline, who became OSU’s offensive coordinator this year. “When you give that mature tag to a football player, it says a lot. His ability to take meetings to the field, his ability to correct mistakes in one try, his ability to hold himself accountable for mistakes, for me to ask him questions about why he did something and for him to give me the answers back shows a lot of intentional work, which is very, very important.

“That's usually an older-guy thing. He's had a lot of adversity, and that's well-documented. To see all the things (he’s) gone through and done … I’m very proud of him.”

With Harrison, Egbuka and senior Julian Fleming established, Tate is unlikely to start. But expect him to play a significant role as a freshman.

“He has definitely put himself in position to play very, very meaningful reps,” Hartline said. “That's not just me. That's the room (in) agreement. That wasn't my choice. Peers know. If I have a question, I go ask the guys, and they let me know. And we're all on the same page.”

Tate isn’t the only freshman receiver to impress already. Brandon Inniss, Noah Rogers and Bryson Rodgers are also making their mark. Egbuka said that Rodgers has caught 90% of the passes thrown to him in camp, the highest on the team.

But it sounds as if Tate could be the wide receiving corps' statistician.

“Carnell is the first in the room to let you know if you had a drop that day,” Egbuka said with a smile. “He talks a lot of trash, and it gets us going. We’ve got that competitive environment going in the wide receiver room.”

The Buckeyes expect Tate to show the world soon enough.

“I’m really excited to see what his career looks like,” Harrison said. “I think he'll be one of the best receivers ever to come through Ohio State.”

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Carnell Tate looking like Ohio State's next star receiver