Air Noland finds clarity after Ohio State visit: ‘I know where I’m going’

Prentiss “Air” Noland knew this was all a formality. But he was happy to do it.

The four-star quarterback of Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes visited Ohio State over the weekend looking to officially earn a scholarship offer. To get it, he knew he had to throw for head coach Ryan Day and see Ohio State in person. Day and his staff were aware Noland could spin it, but a quarterback offer at Ohio State holds weight. Nobody is above the rules.

“Some coaches go off film and some go off politics and rumors, but it’s always good to see a quarterback throw in person when you have dealt with top quarterbacks,” Noland said. “With a school like Ohio State, that’s something they like doing. And you know, I’m fine with that. I can respect that. … I know at a school like Ohio State, they don’t just give out offers. They want to make sure the quarterback loves Ohio State. The quarterback is a very important position, and they can’t just offer anyone. I was patient.”

There was never any question as to whether Noland would get the offer. And sure enough, he posted on his Twitter timeline that he had received one during his two-day visit.

Day had spent too much time recruiting Noland for this to be in question. It has been stressed to the talented quarterback — who ranks as the No. 84 overall player and the No. 8 QB in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite — how badly the Buckeyes want, er, need, him. Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis have visited him at his school multiple times.

That’s why Noland didn’t wait to add Ohio State to his final seven he released a week before heading to Columbus, a list that also consists of Alabama, Clemson, Miami, Texas A&M, Oregon and Arkansas. He was fine mentioning the Buckeyes on his list despite being a week away from visiting Ohio State and roughly two weeks away from announcing his college decision. He’ll commit April 8.

It may seem bizarre that Noland would have an announcement date set before earning the Ohio State offer, but that was always the plan.

“I could have had an offer from Ohio State for a while,” he said. “But they wanted to make sure they went through their process right.”

After his trip to Columbus — which concluded a hectic month of visits — Noland has clarity on where he’ll play college football.

“I know where I’m going,” Noland said confidently. “It feels good. It takes a lot of stuff off the table and just allows me to focus and get ready for my season. It takes a lot of pressure off of me, thoughts and thinking. You can just go be you now and go help recruit a class.”

Whether Ohio State can close Noland is crucial for the Buckeyes’ 2024 class.

Ohio State thought it had its quarterback of the future in five-star Dylan Raiola of Phoenix Pinnacle, the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 class. Raiola committed to the Buckeyes last May but backed off that pledge in December. That was a tough blow for Day, not only because he lost the best quarterback in the country but also because it had an impact on how Ohio State used the final scholarships in its 2023 class.

With sudden uncertainty at the position, Ohio State flipped four-star quarterback Lincoln Kienholz of Pierre (S.D.) T. F. Riggs from Washington late in the 2023 cycle. Kienholz wound up being a top-200 player nationally.

Now we wait to see what Day will do to help ease the pain of the Raiola loss. Landing Noland would do the trick. And it certainly helps Ohio State’s cause that Georgia isn’t in the picture for Noland as it already has a quarterback in its class (four-star Ryan Puglisi) and continues to pursue, you guessed it, Raiola.

Keeping Ohio State’s quarterbacks on track for the future has to feel like a juggling act for Day. He always has multiple top-100 players on his roster, and planning the future in the era of the transfer portal is a difficult task. Having Raiola in the fold was a nice security blanket, but losing him complicated things. That all had to be discussed with Noland, who came into this recruitment eyes wide open in terms of the Buckeyes’ being late to the party. That’s why this visit was crucial.

“I didn’t just visit Ohio State to visit Ohio State,” Noland said. “I wanted to go up there and see what it was all about. I wanted to see the coaching staff and get a better feel for them and the situation, but I also wanted to see how the players act on a day-to-day basis and get a good feeling about the place. History doesn’t lie. That is a big factor for me. For them to have produced first-rounders and Heisman Trophy winners, that’s what stands out to me.”

Ohio State earned a commitment from four-star running back James Peoples, a Texas native, on Sunday, which was a nice response from the Buckeyes after top-100 running back Jordan Marshall of Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller committed to Michigan on March 21. The Buckeyes have three top-100 players in their 2024 class, a number that could grow by one in less than a week.

It’s not an open-and-shut case with Noland. He spent all of March taking visits, most recently to Texas A&M and Miami.

But if there’s anything you can trust Day to do as Ohio State’s coach, it’s keeping the cupboard stocked with top-tier quarterbacks.

(Photo courtesy of Air Noland)