Ohio’s top-ranked recruit will have to sit out the start of the season, but the wait for his return is already mapped out.
Jamier Brown, the five-star senior wide receiver and Ohio State commit, is suspended for two games under OHSAA rules violations and will not be available when Huber Heights Wayne opens Friday at Fairfield or in Week 2 against Cincinnati St. Xavier.
His first chance to suit up again is expected to come in Week 3, when St. Edward visits on Friday, Sept.
Brown had transferred back to Wayne from Big Walnut earlier this month. According to The Dayton Daily News, the suspension comes from two separate and unrelated incidents, each of which resulted in a one-game penalty. Those violations are not tied to his transfer back to Wayne.
“The student-athlete who transferred back to Wayne did meet a transfer exception, but due to two unrelated infractions, he will miss the first two games of the regular season,” OHSAA Director of Communications Tim Stried told the Dayton Daily News. “He will be eligible to participate in Week 3.”
Brown enters the year with plenty of attention on him. Multiple scouting services rank him as the state’s No. 1 recruit, and cleveland.com also lists him as the No. 1 player in its preseason Ohio Big 50.
He was already one of Wayne’s biggest playmakers last season, when he earned All-Ohio first-team honors in Division I after catching 73 passes for 1,007 yards and 10 touchdowns.
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