Jordan Hall has a date. On Thursday evening the Princeton running back told Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett that he will commit on October 23 and that he will choose between three schools: Missouri, Ohio State and Penn State. Hunter Shelton reported it for Rivals at 6:49 p.m. Eastern, in a story that is free to read.
That is the answer to the question this site left open eight days ago. After Hall’s official visit for the Kent State game, we reported that he had not set a commitment date and named one as the thing that would settle it. Now there is one, and it is three weeks away.
It matters for one reason above the rest. Ohio State’s class of 2027 has nineteen pledges on the board and not one of them is a running back. Two backs are on its watch list, and Hall is the one who is uncommitted: Nigel Newkirk is pledged to Alabama.
The three schools, as Rivals reports them
Ohio State. The Buckeyes offered Hall on September 5, the day he visited for the Ball State opener, and had him back on an official visit for Kent State on September 19. Shelton prints Hall’s own account of that weekend:
“I have a really good relationship with the coaches. They love me and I can tell they want me there. That’s what stood out on my official visit. We have a great relationship and it’s great having a Big Ten school that wants me.”
Shelton also writes that Ohio State “is the school that’s currently trending for Hall, according to the Rivals Recruiting Prediction Machine.”
Penn State. It was among the first programs to offer, in the week after Princeton beat Archbishop Moeller on August 20, as this site reported at the time. Shelton reports that Hall “enjoyed a visit to Happy Valley earlier this fall and previously said he plans to return for the White Out on Oct. 10.” That is the same day Ohio State hosts Maryland in Columbus, at 4:15 p.m. by the Buckeyes’ own schedule. Hall gave Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong the case for Penn State in his own words:
“The (PSU) coaching staff stands out to me. They did a great job at making me feel at home. The stadium environment also is insane with it being one of the best stadiums in the country. My biggest thing is playing early which I feel as though Penn State gives me a chance to do so.”
Missouri. The newest of the three. Shelton reports that Missouri offered on September 16 and that the Tigers “remain in the mix.” Nothing more about Missouri has been reported, and we will not guess at it.
Four schools that offered did not make the cut, per Rivals: Maryland, Louisville, Cincinnati and Wake Forest. Miami (Ohio), the school Hall was committed to until September 3, is not in the three either.
What the forecasts say tonight
On3’s predictions page for Hall, read on Thursday night, still lists exactly one insider pick: Steve Wiltfong’s, for Ohio State, filed September 17 at 60 percent confidence. Two weeks and an official visit later, nobody has added a second. On3’s industry consensus counts 19 schools and prints Ohio State at 93.3 percent, down from 95.4 percent when we read it on September 23. Penn State now shows up third at 2.4 percent, behind Miami (Ohio) at 3.6. Missouri is not in its top three.
His 247Sports page still says “No Crystal Ball predictions at this time.” It now counts 11 offers, up from nine on the day Ohio State’s arrived.
A forecast is a reporter’s read, not a decision. The only thing that settles this is Hall.
Where he stands, by both numbers
The Rivals Industry Rankings, which Shelton cites, have Hall at No. 816 overall, No. 64 among running backs and No. 31 among seniors in Ohio. The 247Sports Composite still rates him 0.8744 and moved him one spot, from No. 848 to No. 847 nationally; he is No. 60 at the position and No. 32 in Ohio there. The board carries the 247Sports number, and it now reads 847.
All of it has come in his senior season. Shelton writes that a fractured ankle halted Hall’s junior season. Princeton is 6-0 by the MaxPreps schedule this site reads and hosts Mason on Friday. In September he described the speed of it all to Rivals’ Allen Trieu, as Shelton quotes him:
“It’s definitely eye-opening. Everything is happening so quickly, so my mom has been telling me to take my time making decisions. We knew it was coming, but it has been nothing but blessings.”
What would settle this
October 23, a Friday. Princeton’s MaxPreps schedule has the Vikings at home against Fairfield that night, the last game it lists. Rivals has not reported a time or a place for the announcement.
When Hall picks, this site will report it the same day. If it is Ohio State, he becomes the first running back in the class and goes on the board.
