Ohio State wins recruiting battle for 2023 Ohio center Austin Parks

On Feb 13, 2022

Ohio State recruit Austin Parks (center) from St. Mary's (Ohio) Memorial poses with his mother and coach Chris Holtmann at an Oct. 30 football game at Ohio Stadium.

ST. MARYS, Ohio — He’s watched multiple home games at Value City Arena. He’s taken in football games at Ohio Stadium. He’s seen the campus during several visits to Ohio State.

Now, Austin Parks is ready to be a Buckeye. The three-star center prospect from St. Marys (Ohio) Memorial has committed to Ohio State for the 2023 recruiting class after emerging as a top post priority for the Buckeyes. Flanked by his high school and AAU jerseys hanging from a blue-and-yellow backdrop, Parks made his announcement at a Sunday press conference inside his school auditorium.

Listed at 6-9, 240 pounds, Parks in January had narrowed his final list to three schools: Ohio State, Indiana and West Virginia. Most recently, Parks took an official visit to Ohio State for a Feb. 6 home game with Maryland. Prior to that, he took an unofficial visit to Indiana to see the Hoosiers host Minnesota on Jan. 9.

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“I had to go through with my family and make a pros and cons list of each school,” Parks told The Dispatch. “To be honest, there weren’t many negatives of (any of the schools). It led me to Ohio State because growing up, my whole family in Ohio has been OSU fans and that played a part. With the distance, that was also a major factor, being an hour and a half away down the road and having my mom’s work schedule. This was just the best choice for me.”

Parks was also on hand for Ohio State’s win against No. 1 Duke on Nov. 30.

He is the second member of Ohio State’s 2023 class, joining four-star guard George Washington III. The 6-2, 165-pound junior at Louisville (Kentucky) Christian Academy of Louisville is rated a four-star prospect and the nation’s No. 46 overall prospect. He committed to the Buckeyes in November after taking an official visit to the Oct. 30 home football game. Parks was there, too, on an unofficial visit, marking the second time he took in a football game.

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247Sports lists Parks as the No. 18 center in the nation and the No. 6 prospect from Ohio. ESPN ranks him as a four-star prospect.

“Being a kid from Ohio, having them want you to play for their school, I feel really honored,” he said of the Buckeyes. “Every time I went there they always made me feel like a priority, saying how they would use me and use me in the right way. I’ve done research and watched games and they do use their bigs the way that I could be used to help them win some games.”