Ohio State landed commitments from 4-star Pennsylvania high school teammates Maxwell Roy and Isaiah West

When Jim Tressel was head football coach at OSU, their slogan was “you win with people. ” The staff under Ryan Day must believe in that saying because this past few days the last couple of days, OSU received commitments from two of the best high school football players from Pennsylvania in the 2025 class. 
 
Current St. Joseph’s Prep players include four star Tyler Ao/Ursitis Frink on the defensive line and Isaiah West on the running team mentioned relationships they had with the Ohio State staff as one of the main decisions to join the college. 
 
“Meeting (defensive line) coach Johnson, coach Day, (defensive coordinator) coach Knowles, understanding that is the kind of people they are, its coaches I would love to be coached by,” said Roy, who is ranked the No. 4 overall player in Pennsylvania’s 2025 class according to 247Sports. com. “(It is friends) They are coaches I want to be around for my football season, and people outside of football season, people that I trust as people. ” 
 
West is the No. 1 ranked running back in the state’s 2025 class and the No. 6 overall player, per 247Sports. com, said another high school teammate of his. 
 
On his part West said, ‘It’s about going to the place that cares for you most’. ”The coaches that I think are going to help me develop the most and, of course, help me reach my full potential, which everyone always wants to do, right? And I think just the presence of guys like (running backs) coach (Carlos) Locklyn, (co-offensive coordinator) coach (Brian) Hartline are going to help me do that. ” 
 
Roy, who also had offers from schools including Georgia, the University of Oregon, Michgian and Wisconsin was able to look at it this way because even though each school may seem different, each school really has all the same amenities as the other so it boils down to the right people. 
 
“Of course every school is wonderful Roy said. ” ‘Even though there’s a lot of differences, both have 100 yards field, both have 45-pound plates in each of the weight rooms,’ ‘It’s like an effort to look for people that you can rely on and put your trust on on and off the field. ’ 
 
Part of it was also where two high school teammates could go and play; where they could sharpen each other. 
 
‘This is something that we talked about since freshman year’, said West, who was also awaiting his offers from such schools as West Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan State. ”When I first came in here, we wanted to be in the same school so we can compete against each other in practice, beat on him for the next four years… I don’t know, it is good competition as I feel like playing against him inside run every day…” 
 
To speak of teammates, both have been surrounded from the high school years to the team, which included players, who went through the recruitment as grant, two spotted in the course of the season and took advantage of it. 
 
“From guys who were in the 2024 class all the way up to guys in the class of 2021 I’m lucky just to be able to go to a program where I’m able to stand on, like, the shoulders of the giants that came before me,” Roy said. >Just guys like Kyle (McCord) Marv (Marvin Harrison, Jr. ), you know, even the guys who graduated last year, Ivan Bailey Green, I am privileged just having talked of how they made the decision, you know, that helped form a process, that I went through. 
 
In fact it was the older Marvin Harrison who assisted West to see the realities of recruiting. Since Marvin Harrison Jr went through the St Joseph’s Prep program and Jett Harrison is now a freshman, this West has had ample amount of time to get to know the team, and is the one whom West can always turn to. 
 
For my part, I think that Marvin Harrison, Sr played the most crucial role of them all , West said. Of course, his youngest son, Jett Harrison is here, and he is in sometimes to talk to the guys a little bit, he has been coaching and giving me tips and advice since my first year and is always on my side and giving me the rundown on everything he knows about Ohio State. 
 
Both players also had their letters of invitation from Penn State but the Nittany Lions failed to accommodate both teammates in the team. Crow suggested the following question to Roy if he had an idea on what the fans had to say on why Ohio State was chosen in place of staying in Pennsylvania and all Roy could do was to chuckle. 
 
“That’s not the first time I have heard people, you know, hate on my decision and probably not the last,” said Roy who will be sidelined for the beginning of the season due to a knee injury. Well yes it is just the way it is, one of those things you just have to put up with it or face, it is part of the job.