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Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff Writer
Four-star defensive tackle Justin Scott committed to Ohio State on Sunday night.
Scott, who hails from Chicago’s St. Ignatius College Prep, is 34th overall in the 2024 ESPN 300 and the fourth-best defensive tackle in the class. He’s the 11th ESPN 300 recruit to pledge to Ryan Day and staff for this cycle, and the Buckeyes’ class currently sits third behind Georgia and Big Ten rival Michigan.
Scott chose Ohio State over Notre Dame, Georgia, Miami and Michigan. He took his official visit to Columbus from June 23 to 25.
His first visit to the Horseshoe came during the Buckeyes’ 49-10 victory over Rutgers last October.
“Definitely the atmosphere [stood out],” he told ESPN in January. “Their stadium was probably one of the biggest ones I’ve seen out of all my visits. Even though they played Rutgers, which was kind of a predicted blowout, the stands were still filled. Everybody just showed love.”
He also added that Ohio State and Notre Dame stood out above the other schools he looked at because of the relationships he built with both coaching staffs, particularly with the defensive line coaches — Notre Dame’s Al Washington and Ohio State’s Larry Johnson Sr.
“Coach Johnson being one of the best defensive line coaches to ever coach in college football,” Scott said. “Just being able to be developed like Chase Young and the Bosas [Joey and Nick]. The culture that they have there, especially with the Black Stripe [tradition].”
All new players who come into the Ohio State program receive a black stripe across their helmet, and the goal of every player is to have the stripe removed as quickly as possible as a sign of respect in terms of how they’re viewed within the program and their readiness to contribute significantly on the field.
St. Ignatius College Prep reached the state quarterfinals for the first time in program history this past fall, and the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Scott was a huge catalyst.
As a junior, he had 42 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also started at left guard and helped the team average 326.7 yards a game, and he was named CCL-ESCC White Lineman of the Year and was a Class 6A All-State selection.
“I would definitely say stopping the run just because I can get my hands on you and stand my ground without getting moved back,” he said of the best part of his game.
For a while growing up, he didn’t necessarily believe football would be his calling in college. He also plays basketball and averaged about eight points a game for the Wolfpack, who finished fourth in Class 3A this past March.
“I actually wanted to play basketball,” he said. “I wanted to play in the NBA growing up. I want to say as far as college football, none of that stuff really crossed my mind until high school.” Ohio State, with designs of hauling in another top recruiting class next year, is thankful for that.
