Making the Case: Austin Siereveld
One of the nation's top offensive line recruits in the 2023 class, Austin Siereveld, has named a top six. The Liberty Township (Ohio) Lakota East saw his recruitment take off at the end of October when he went from a prospect void of offers to a national recruit in a matter of weeks.
Siereveld picked up 17 offers total before cutting his list to Iowa, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Alabama and Michigan.
In today's Making The Case, experts from around the Rivals network make an argument for a particular school and then national recruiting director Adam Gorney issues a verdict as to where he sees Siereveld ending up.
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MICHIGAN
“Michigan will look to pluck the four-star offensive lineman out of its rival state after failing to grab a prospect from Ohio in its 2022 class. At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, Siereveld is a load in the trenches, who’s size will be molded into a prototypical Big Ten tackle or guard thanks to Michigan’s strength and conditioning program. When I talked to Siereveld after picking up the offer from the Wolverines, he said he was hoping to take his first visit to Ann Arbor following the dead period in March. He wants to get a glance of the facilities and Big House, as well as see how things are operated by the staff. Siereveld had great things to say about co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Sherrone Moore and the job he did in winning the Joe Moore Award last season. Receiving that honor has really put Michigan in serious contention for some of the top high school offensive linemen in the country. They know Michigan is a place where they can be developed right for a chance to reach the NFL. Moore is a young and hungry assistant and instills excellent connections on the recruiting trail. It’s obviously enticed Siereveld and why Michigan landed in his top six.” - Zach Libby, TheMaizeandBlueReview.com
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ALABAMA
“Alabama extended Siereveld an offer in November when he visited Tuscaloosa for the first time with his parents. The Crimson Tide shuffled things on its offensive front after Doug Marrone spent one year on Nick Saban’s staff. Alabama hired former Kentucky offensive line coach Eric Wolford who already has a strong connection with Siereveld. He recruited the four-star lineman for the Wildcats. Coach Wolford has been in contact with Siereveld since joining the Tide’s staff and told that Ohio native that he is a top priority. Alabama is a strong contender in his recruitment, but will also need to get him back to Tuscaloosa and continue to build his relationship with Coach Wolford along with other members of the staff. Siereveld mentioned Alabama’s development as a player and student as something that really sticks out to him about the Crimson Tide’s program. -Andrew Bone, BamaInsider.com
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IOWA
“Iowa has a good tradition and a history of developing NFL offensive linemen on their side, but a lot will depend on a visit as Siereveld has yet to make it to Iowa City at this point but is hoping to schedule something for the spring.” - Blair Sanderson, HawkeyeReport.com
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NOTRE DAME
“Siereveld will end up committing to Notre Dame, primarily because of the o-line coaching combination of unretired Harry Hiestand and new sidekick Chris Watt, each in their second tour of duty with the Irish. Hiestand, in his first run with ND (2012-17), developed a Joe Moore Award-winning unit and four first-round NFL Draft picks in a five-year span. Only Quenton Nelson of the four (Zack Martin, Ronnie Stanley, Mike McGlinchey) was a Rivals top 150 prospect coming out of high school. In the combined 14 draft cycles that preceded Martin’s selection in 2014, the Irish produced one first-rounder among O-linemen, Jeff Faine (2003). Watt, who returns as a grad assistant, was a Hiestand protégé and third-rounder in 2014. - Eric Hansen, InsideNDSports.com
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CINCINNATI
“Coach Luke Fickell and Cincinnati have made it one of the program's priorities to lock in top recruits from southwest Ohio. It's why the Bearcats held a Hometown Hero junior day just for local recruits on Jan. 15. Austin Siereveld wasn't part of that group, but he did participate in UC's junior day Jan. 29, which actually had some much bigger attendees, like four-star tight end Khamari Anderson, who committed last week, his Cass Tech teammate, four-star DE Jalen Thompson and four-star OL Amir Herring. Siereveld seems to have enjoyed the trip and has connected well with new OL coach Mike Cummings, so it's no surprise to see Cincinnati in the top six. Ohio State will be the one to watch here. Not saying others couldn't make some noise in that group, but the Buckeyes seem to be the one the Bearcats are holding off the most. If UC can get Siereveld back on campus this spring, it should feel good about its chances. But I expect Ohio State to be there right until the end, regardless of where he chooses. - Jason Stamm, BearcatReport.com
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OHIO STATE
“The Buckeyes are sitting in a prime position to land the in-state four-star for a few reasons. Of the six schools to make the final cut, the Buckeyes were the first of them to offer Siereveld back in late October. While there is a new coach in Columbus leading the offensive line, Siereveld and Justin Frye have been building a solid relationship over the last month, leading Siereveld to tell us over at ScarletAndGrayReport that Frye is a coach he would "want to play for.” A possible factor to monitor more so than the new offensive line coach, may be Kerry Coombs heading over to Cincinnati. Coombs is king of recruiting the Queen City and there is no doubt he was influential in getting the Buckeyes on Siereveld earlier than the rest. Nonetheless, Siereveld is very familiar with the Buckeye football program and the rest of their staff having camped and visited Columbus more than a couple times in the past year. The Buckeyes have also clearly put an emphasis on keeping the top offensive lineman in the state home for the 2023 cycle and you can bet that will continue to be a major part of their pitch as they look to convince Siereveld to be a Buckeye.” - Eric Lammers, ScarletandGrayReport.com
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THE VERDICT
Every program remains in the running and since they’re all in the Midwest, location probably wouldn’t be a big factor here but the fact remains that Ohio State wants Siereveld in its recruiting class and the Buckeyes rarely lose these battles. The four-star offensive guard has been to Columbus numerous times, he’s camped there, is developing a quick relationship with the Buckeyes’ new offensive line coach and it looks like Ohio State is going to be tough to beat here. Ohio State already has a commitment from four-star, in-state offensive lineman Joshua Padilla and my prediction is that the Buckeyes will add another one in Siereveld. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director