Buckeyes Now

2023 New Jersey Safety Jayden Bonsu Commits To Ohio State

The Buckeyes have secured a pledge from one of the nation's hardest-hitting defenders.

Andrew Lind

In this story:

Hillside (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep four-star safety Jayden Bonsu committed to Ohio State on Sunday afternoon over finalists Alabama, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State and Penn State.

The 6-foot-1 and 210-pound Bonsu, who is considered the 22nd-best safety and No. 259 prospect overall in the class of 2023, has been to campus twice since he landed an offer from the Buckeyes back in December.

That includes a spring practice in March – where he got to spend time with junior linebacker Cody Simon, who hails from the same high school – and his official visit on June 17-19, which allowed him to hang out with head coach Ryan Day, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, secondary/cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and safeties coach Perry Eliano.

Bonsu also took official visits with the Hurricanes on June 3-5 and Spartans on June 10-12, then announced he would make his college decision on Aug. 20. He subsequently moved his commitment date to July 20, which wasn't exactly viewed as good news for Ohio State.

Most prognosticators believed Bonsu would pick Miami that afternoon, mostly due to the Hurricanes' name, image and likeness efforts. But with five-star target Caleb Downs trending toward – and eventually committing to the Crimson Tide – the Buckeyes ramped up their pursuit and convinced him to hold off.

Shortly after Downs came off the board, Bonsu began trending toward Ohio State, at which time he announced another new commitment date for this afternoon. Only, this time it stuck, with him pledging his services to the Buckeyes.

Bonsu now becomes the 20th member of Ohio State's 2023 recruiting class, joining West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West four-star Malik Hartford and Cocoa, Fla., four-star Cedrick Hawkins at the safety position, where the Buckeyes are now finished.

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Andrew Lind
ANDREW LIND

Andrew Lind is an Ohio State beat writer and photographer at BuckeyesNow, founder of The Ohio State Uniform Database and the NCAA and NFL writer at SportsLogos.net.

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