COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Pen finally meets paper as players and programs make things official for the 2025 season. We take a look at the next wave of athletes who will go from Central Ohio to the Division I college football level.

Youngstown State has loaded up with Central Ohio prospects, adding seven players in this year’s cycle—the most among all Division I programs. The Penguins had nine Central Ohio alums on their 2024 roster, and have been an attractive program for players around Ohio for several years.

Ohio will be playing for MAC supremacy in Detroit this Saturday, but they’ve already taken the crown for Central Ohio signees in the 2025 class. The Bobcats officially welcome in four freshman, including Brandon Weaver, younger brother of Bradley Weaver, who currently stars on the defensive line. Their biggest rival and MAC title opponent, Miami University will add offensive lineman Ayden Annarino. Treyton McKee is the only other player to sign with a MAC school.

The hometown Buckeyes brought in three players as well. Quarterback Tavien St. Clair headlines the entire 2025 class for Ohio State, while Westerville North’s Jake Cook hopes to become a key piece in the offensive line. Hidden gem Bodpegn Miller signs from Ontario. Miller and St. Clair were both awarded as Mr. Football finalists last week.

For the Big Ten as a whole, seven players from Central Ohio have been added to the power conference. 14 players in total will head to a power conference, with the ACC, Big 12, and SEC all having multiple representatives.

Central Ohio also saw three flips in the last week. Safeties Terris Dudley and Tyrell Russell flipped from Toledo as Dudley signed with NC State, and Russell signed with West Virginia. Myles Harrison flipped from Buffalo to sign with Cincinnati, becoming the second Bearcat signee along with Gahanna Lincoln’s Terrell Holcomb.

Aforementioned Russell became the second player from the City League to go from Columbus to Morgantown. Despite the dismissal of West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, the Mountaineers were able flip Russell as well as sign Dawayne Galloway Jr., who had originally committed to Purdue over the summer.

On the high school angle, Gahanna Lincoln tallied the most D-1 signings with six, including three headed to Youngstown State. Pickerington North had with five, and three come out of Pickerington Central. Bellefontaine, Dublin Coffman, Upper Arlington, and Westerville North were the only other schools with multiple signees.

The City League had an impressive three players sign today, two of which are in the Big 12 as we mentioned earlier. The CCL had two players sign today as did the MSL, both coming from Bloom-Carroll.

Congratulations to all players who signed today. We’re excited to continue following the journey of our athletes from the area. Stay tuned as we plan to give a follow up for the remaining of the 2025 class before we turn the page to 2026.

ATH Jake Bushelman, Army (Gahanna Lincoln)

DL Jeremy McDowell, Army (Gahanna Lincoln)

ATH Amari Valerio-Hudson, Army (Dublin Coffman)

DB Tyree Green Jr., Boston College (Reynoldsburg)

K Treyton McKee, Bowling Green (Bloom-Carroll)

CB Zach Corna, Bucknell (Upper Arlington)

EDGE Myles Harrison, Cincinnati (Pickerington Central)

LB Terrell Holcomb, Cincinnati (Gahanna Lincoln)

TE Michael Stevenson, Colgate (Bloom-Carroll)

HB Mikey Hess, Dayton (Newark Catholic)

WR Braylon Newcomb, Eastern Kentucky (Bellefontaine)

EDGE Keishaun Calhoun, Indiana (Groveport Madison)

WR Preston Bowman, Kentucky (Pickerington North)

QB Brennen Ward, Kentucky (Gahanna Lincoln)

WR Sherone White Jr., Marshall (Pickerington Central)

OL Ayden Annarino, Miami OH (Pickerington North)

EDGE Cal Thrush, Michigan State (Upper Arlington)

TE Tyler Kielmeyer, Northwestern (Westerville South)

S Jonathan Stevens Jr., Northwestern (Westerville North)

S Terris Dudley, NC State (Hilliard Bradley)

HB Kentrell Rinehart, NC State (Westland)

CB Tyson Long, Ohio (Pickerington North)

DL Ty Neubert, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales)

HB Michael Taylor, Ohio (Pickerington North)

DL Brandon Weaver, Ohio (Hilliard Darby)

OL Jake Cook, Ohio State (Westerville North)

ATH Bodpegn Miller, Ohio State (Ontario)

QB Tavien St. Clair, Ohio State (Bellefontaine)

LB Jake Lopinto (Licking Heights)

OL Jake Marzich, Penn (Olentangy Berlin)

LB Denim Cook, Pittsburgh (Bishop Hartley)

OL Parker Harden, Tennessee State (Pickerington Central)

CB Dawayne Galloway Jr., West Virginia (Marion-Franklin)

S Tyrell Russell, West Virginia (Beechcroft)

WR Emy Louis Jr., Youngstown State (Pickerington North)

OL Max Patterson, Youngstown State (Dublin Coffman)

S Preston Penn — Youngstown State (Gahanna Lincoln)

CB Jay Smith, Youngstown State (Gahanna Lincoln)

DL Justin Thomas, Youngstown State (Centennial)

DL Bilal Tucker, Youngstown State (Delaware Hayes)

WR Jackson Wiley, Youngstown State (Olentangy)