With the status of high school football in Ohio still up in the air, the top-ranked prospect in the country has decided he will forgo his senior season and train for early enrollment at Ohio State.
Jack Sawyer, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end at Pickerington North High School, has been committed to Ohio State since February 2019. He had planned to enroll at Ohio State in January, but he is now taking his senior season off to train for college.
Thankful for the awesome 3 years playing for Pickerington North. See you soon #BuckeyeNation. pic.twitter.com/mC09WDWcTJ
— Jack Sawyer (@jacksawyer40) August 14, 2020
He isn't the first Buckeyes commit to forgo his senior season of high school football. Uncertainty across the country because of the coronavirus pandemic has caused other recruits to make similar decisions.
The Buckeyes currently have the No. 1-ranked recruiting class for 2021.
Ohio State commit TreVeyon Henderson, the top-ranked running back in the class, lives in Hopewell, Virginia, where the state has already pushed high school football to the spring. Henderson announced on July 19 that he would be preparing for early enrollment.
Henderson has been putting himself through track workouts and lifting weights with a trainer while still doing individual football drills by himself. Henderson is joined in his decision by fellow running back Evan Pryor from North Carolina, tight end Sam Hart out of Colorado and cornerback Jordan Hancock from Georgia.
Hancock announced he would miss his senior season on Aug. 3, but for a different reason than that of his future teammates. The ESPN 300 recruit tweeted that his mother is fighting breast cancer and his father has heart conditions.
"I love North Gwinnett and will never forget the precious memories I made with the community, the coaches and my brothers I call my teammates," Hancock wrote on social media. "Memories that will resonate with me for a lifetime and my family's lifetime matters the absolute most to me. I love the game of football but this is not a time for me to be selfish and think about myself."