Buckeye Nation awoke to an early‑summer thunderclap on Friday morning, June 13, 2025: Tampa (Fla.) Blake running back Elijah Newman‑Hall, still four seasons away from graduation, has issued a resounding verbal “Yes” to Ohio State. The pledge is the program’s first of the 2028 cycle and, in typical scarlet‑and‑gray fashion, the news rolled out with a digital avalanche of “#BOOM” memes and celebratory GIFs across Buckeye message boards and social feeds.
At 6‑foot, a chiseled 200‑plus pounds and only a rising sophomore, Newman‑Hall already looks like he belongs in a college weight room. As a freshman last fall he bulldozed Florida 6A defenses for 829 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on just 80 carries—an eye‑popping 10.4 yards per tote. Even more impressively, he moonlighted on defense, tallying 28 tackles and eight sacks while forcing three fumbles and recovering two more, underscoring the explosive closing speed that first caught Ohio State’s eye.
The Buckeyes extended an offer on Tuesday after Newman‑Hall stole the show at Ohio State’s fourth one‑day camp of the summer. According to staffers on site, he blew through bag drills, displayed effortless hip fluidity in pass‑protection reps and capped the session by ripping off a sub‑4.5 forty in front of running‑backs coach Carlos Locklyn. Locklyn didn’t simply hand the youngster a photo‑op scholarship; he pressed for an immediate commitment—and got it three days later.
Ohio State’s aggressiveness was necessary. In the past six weeks Newman‑Hall collected early bids from Florida State, Miami, UCF, Wake Forest, Florida Atlantic, FIU and Toledo, with more Power‑Four programs sniffing around after his camp circuit. Locklyn’s pitch of early playing time in a balanced, NFL‑style attack, plus the prospect of competing for championships every season in Columbus, tipped the scales.
Locklyn, hired away from Oregon in April 2024, has wasted no time reshaping Ohio State’s run‑game recruiting board. The Montgomery, Ala., native built a reputation on the West Coast for landing Christian More and Jordan James despite stiff SEC competition; now he’s applying that same relentless energy in the Midwest. Sources inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center say Newman‑Hall was “Locklyn’s top 2028 target from the moment spring evaluations opened.”
While the Buckeyes still chase five‑star 2026 backs Derrek Cooper and Savion Hiter, and remain without a 2027 tailback pledge, landing Newman‑Hall this early accomplishes two things:
Roster Insurance: Even if one of the older targets slips away, the staff has secured a high‑ceiling back for the long term.
Peer Recruiting Catalyst: By locking in now, Newman‑Hall can spend the next three years acting as an in‑house recruiter on social media and at camps, helping Ohio State build class chemistry well before national signing day 2027.
Within minutes of the commitment post, Eleven Warriors splashed a giant “BOOOOOOM” graphic across its front page, while Buckeye Twitter churned out highlight montages of Newman‑Hall’s freshman tape set to thumping club beats. The sentiment was unanimous: “It’s never too early to plant the scarlet flag,” wrote one commenter, echoing hundreds of similar takes.
Recruiting services haven’t graded most 2028 prospects yet, but insiders expect Newman‑Hall to debut as a top‑five national running back once sophomore film is processed. His blend of contact balance and verified track speed places him stylistically between recent OSU stars TreVeyon Henderson and J.K. Dobbins—a high bar, but one camp observers believe he can clear with continued development.
Newman‑Hall won’t sign a letter of intent until December 2027 at the earliest, leaving ample time for suitors to poke and prod. Yet those close to the family say the Buckeyes’ academic support network and Ryan Day’s quarterback‑friendly offense make Columbus feel “like a home away from home,” giving Ohio State a substantial head start. For now, Buckeye fans can bask in the glow of another recruiting coup—one that arrives not with the usual late‑cycle tension but with the shock‑and‑awe timing of a summer lightning strike.
Bottom line: By securing Elijah Newman‑Hall 39 months before he can officially enroll, Ohio State has fired the first shot of the 2028 recruiting wars, reasserted its national reach in talent‑rich Florida and—thanks to Carlos Locklyn—put the rest of the Big Ten on notice that the scarlet freight train isn’t slowing anytime soon.
