Ohio State junior wide receiver Garyn Prater announced on Thursday evening he will transfer to Cincinnati.
“I have learned and experienced so many priceless things during my time at Ohio State,” Prater wrote on Twitter. “To all my friends and teammates, I’m going to miss you all so much. These relationships will last a lifetime. To all my coaches, I want to thank you for the opportunity, as well well as all of the on- and off-the-field lessons that you have taught me. I’ll always have love for OSU.”
The 6-4, 210-pound Prater joined the Buckeyes in the summer of 2017 as a walk-on from Wyoming, Ohio — about 20 minutes north of the Queen City — but caught just one pass for 13 yards in his only appearance in two seasons with the program. He earned rave reviews from head coach Ryan Day for his performance this spring, highlighted by by an over-the-shoulder catch during a full-team scrimmage in front of the media.
“He’s showing up every day making plays,” Day said. “(Redshirt senior H-Back) C.J. Saunders is a guy who walked on here and earned a scholarship, so if you just keep stacking days up like that and making plays, before you know it, he could be on the field.”
Prater hauled in just one catch for no gain during the Buckeyes’ annual spring game on April 13, though he did make a key block on a 22-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman running back Master Teague in the Gray’s 35-17 win over the Scarlet. But playing time would likely be hard to come by this fall with several senior leaders and a bevy of talented underclassmen ahead of him on the depth chart at wide receiver, so he entered his name into the transfer portal late last month.
Prater will be on scholarship at Cincinnati, wheee he’ll team up with his younger brother, Evan, who also committed to the Bearcats on Thursday evening. He is a three-star quarterback from the class of 2020 who visited Ohio State back in December.
