Everyone knew Ohio State had something special in freshman Sonny Styles. He was the No. 1 ranked safety in the 2023 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings before reclassifying to the 2022 class. The five-star safety was a must-get for Ohio State living in the Buckeye’s backyard coming from Pickerington, Ohio, and with his dad, Lorenzo Sr. wearing the scarlet and gray in the 90s.
However, even as excited as everyone was about Styles joining OSU a year earlier than expected, there is a realization that the young man is only 17 years old. That doesn’t seem to be making a difference to the coaching staff as Styles seems to be holding his own and is mature well beyond his years… both physically and mentally.
Buy Buckeyes TicketsNew defensive backs coach Perry Eliano had nothing but high praise for his budding star.
“He’s a beast. He’s a big boy,” Eliano said recently at a media session. “The biggest thing about Sonny is that he is 17 years old and you’d think he’s 22. He’s very, very mature. Very humble. No entitlement. He just came in and worked.”
.@Coach_Eliano on freshman Sonny Styles. pic.twitter.com/VxbkvvRg0l
— Clay Hall (@claywsyx6) August 23, 2022
Sounds like dad has raised his son right. It might be easy for a highly touted recruit and son of a former star to walk in and think he already owns the place, but it doesn’t sound like there is any of that going on.
How much Styles will play this year remains to be seen. He is still waiting to have his black stripe removed to become an official member of the brotherhood. You can follow our black stripe removal tracker right here.
The Buckeyes will host Notre Dame to open the season on September 3 in Ohio Stadium. Styles older brother Lorenzo Jr. is a wide receiver for the Fighting Irish. I’m sure little brother will be chomping at the bit to get in the game. Somebody has to have bragging rights at Thanksgiving dinner.
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