Which central Ohio high school football players transferred ahead of 2024 OHSAA season?

Seeing an opportunity to succeed one of central Ohio’s top running backs and continue building his own recruiting stock in the process, Jayden Gwinn made a tough decision in the spring.

Despite being one of Westerville Central’s top players, the junior opted to transfer to Gahanna Lincoln, joining a Lions team that has won 25 of 28 games the past two seasons with a Division I state semifinal appearance in 2022 and a 12-0 start last fall.

Gahanna’s ground game was anchored during that time by Diore Hubbard , who ran for 5,221 career yards and 65 touchdowns and is now a freshman at West Virginia.

“I’m happy with the decision,” said Gwinn, who holds college offers from Akron, Army, Cornell, Dartmouth, Kent State and Kentucky. “It hasn’t been a hard adjustment. It’s been pretty easy. It’s been pretty fun. I’ve been studying a lot. I have great teammates behind me (and) great coaches. They’ve been helping me.”

Gwinn’s cousin, Jaystin, is a highly recruited dual-threat quarterback at Central entering his senior season.

Jayden Gwinn is one of several central Ohio standouts to switch schools ahead of the 2024 Ohio high school football season , which starts next week.

Here is an alphabetical transfer tracker of some of those players as obtained by The Dispatch :

Gerald Banks

Position: Running back

Grade: Senior

New school: Pickerington Central

Old school: Watkins Memorial

Banks should help anchor the Tigers’ ground game to complement a passing game led by junior quarterback Rocco Williams and senior receiver Sherone White Jr. Banks totaled 1,125 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns last fall at Watkins. He has offers from Mercyhurst and Ohio Dominican.

How to watch Ohio high school football in 2024

Taizaun Burns

Positions: Wide receiver and defensive back

Grade: Senior

New school: Gahanna Lincoln

Old school: East

Burns looks to contribute on both sides of the ball for his new team , not to mention opening possibilities with his passing abilities, after three seasons at East in which he amassed 4,329 all-purpose yards and 61 touchdowns as a quarterback, running back and receiver. Burns holds offers from Akron, Alabama-Birmingham, Bowling Green, Campbell, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, Kentucky, Marshall and Toledo.

Best seniors: Columbus area's top 25 for 2024

Rusty Hutchinson

Position: Wide receiver

Grade: Junior

New school: Bloom-Carroll

Old school: Fairfield Christian

The 5-foot-5, 140-pound Hutchinson turned 13 of his 28 catches last fall into touchdowns and hopes to provide that production and more for a Bulldogs offense led by 1,800-yard passer Ethan Thanthanavong . Hutchinson was first-team all-district and third-team all-state in Division VII .

Chris “Emy” Louis Jr.

Position: Wide receiver

Grade: Senior

New school: Pickerington North

Old school: Massillon Washington

Louis returned to Pickerington, where he lived earlier in high school, after accounting for nine all-purpose touchdowns for the Division II state champion Tigers . Louis will go back to northeast Ohio after high school to play at Youngstown State.

Jarin Mock

Position: Quarterback

Grade: Junior

New school: Pickerington North

Old school: Reynoldsburg

Described as a “pro-style quarterback” by some recruiting sites, Mock drew plenty of Big Ten attention before committing to Wisconsin in July. He will oversee an offense with several top-tier recruits on the line, in the backfield and on the edges this fall at North.

Best juniors: Columbus area's top 25 for 2024

Kentrell Rinehart

Position: Running back

Grade: Senior

New school: Westland

Old school: Ready

The North Carolina State commit will try to resurrect a Westland program that hasn’t made the playoffs or had a winning record since 2006. Rinehart ran for 2,837 of his 3,003 all-purpose yards as a junior and was Division IV district Offensive Player of the Year .

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

sports@dispatch.com

@DispatchPreps

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Which central Ohio high school football players transferred ahead of 2024 OHSAA season?