'They are really brothers': Why relationships brought Miles Lockhart to Ohio State's 2024 class
In Denzel Burke, Miles Lockhart saw a path to playing college football he wished to emulate.
The 2024 Chandler, Arizona, cornerback remembers watching Burke, then a 6-foot, 189-pound wide receiver, at Saguro High School in Scottsdale before he blossomed into an Ohio State freshman All-American cornerback.
To Lockhart, Burke is evidence that an Arizona high school football player can get the attention of a program like Ohio State.
“That really set up a big example or something that I definitely want to do (and) I could see myself doing,” Lockhart told The Dispatch. “Just having him come really from the same area as me, (having) the same type of things that coaches are looking for, it definitely gives me a kind of boost and just seeing into what I can do.”
Lockhart has that chance, committing to Ohio State on the first day of his June 23-25 official visit before announcing his decision publicly Thursday. He joins four-star Bryce West as the first two cornerbacks in the Buckeyes’ 2024 class.
For Lockhart, his decision is all about relationships.
It was Lockhart's relationship with Ohio State wide receiver Kyion Grayes even before the 2024 cornerback got the Buckeyes’ attention, watching the Chandler native “grind” through the recruiting process and end up in the “toughest receiver room in the nation.”
“He just (told) me what (Ohio State) can do for me,” Lockhart said of Grayes. “It wasn’t like he was pressing on me to do it. He was just telling me, ‘This is a really good fit for me… you’ll know if it’s the right fit for you.’ ”
It’s the relationships Lockhart has seen the program build with his family, seeing his mother and sisters get to know coach Ryan Day, cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and the rest of the coaching staff personally through his recruiting process.
But it’s also about the potential of building future relationships, something Lockhart said safety Kye Stokes made clear to him on his official visit.
“(He) told me it’s not going to be easy coming here," Lockhart said. "It’s definitely going to be a challenge. Every day, you got to compete with the best guys in the nation. But it really is worth it. You’re competing for national championships every year, you’re building relationships with these great coaches (and) great players that are really like your brothers. They are really brothers over there.”
To Lockhart, Ohio State is a “family”: a connection, he said, he felt when he committed in front of his family and the Buckeye coaching staff after being welcomed to the “brotherhood” by both Day and Walton.
And now, as a commit, Lockhart said he’s now working to add to Ohio State’s 2024 “family.”
Even before publicly committing to Ohio State, Lockhart said he was direct messaging targets on social media and talking with other commits in group chats as “an extension of Ohio State’s recruiting staff.”
On his official visit with West, four-star Springfield cornerback Aaron Scott proved to be Lockhart’s first target.
“Me and Bryce were on Aaron a ton,” Lockhart said. “‘We need you in this class. We need you to commit.’ We wanted to make it apparent to him that he’s not someone that we really want. We really need him to come play with us and help us with the secondary."
Lockhart said he’s also targeting four-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, along with defensive linemen Eddrick Houston and Justin Scott, who joined Ohio State's 2024 class Sunday.
With his relationships at Ohio State already established, Lockhart is building relationships centered around two goals for his time with the Buckeyes.
“Let’s just go win the natty,” Lockhart said. “Beat the Team Up North first, and then win a natty.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football recruiting: Why 2024 CB Miles Lockhart chose OSU
