Ohio State walk-on, Wyoming grad Garyn Prater enters NCAA transfer portal, speculation begins

WYOMING – Former Wyoming receiver Garyn Prater entered the NCAA Transfer Portal this week, which could be a sign of things to come and major college football news in Greater Cincinnati.

Garyn Prater came to Ohio State as a preferred walk-on rather than take a scholarship offer from Fordham. As a sophomore, he appeared in three early season games last fall for the Buckeyes, catching a 13-yard pass against Tulane.

He's listed at 6-4, 210 pounds, but at OSU there are a lot of seasoned receivers.

Garyn Prater by all accounts had an impressive spring, but came away without a scholarship offer and remained in walk-on status.

Could Prater brothers end up playing together?

Making this a tad more newsworthy is the fact his younger brother, Evan, is about to embark on his senior season at Wyoming High School. All Evan did was lead the Cowboys to their first state championship in 41 years as a junior quarterback.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound dual-threat ran for 242 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 149 and a couple more in Wyoming's 42-14 of Girard in the Division IV title game in Canton last December.

University of Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell was there. As such, Evan Prater holds a UC offer and has made several notable visits to campus. Thus, news of a transfer from Garyn Prater has led to great speculation that the brothers may play for the same team saving parents Gary and Lori Prater the logistical nightmare of watching two games in separate locations. Gary Prater played college football at Tennessee and South Carolina.

According to 247sports.com, Evan Prater is a three-star recruit with more than 30 schools showing interest. Tops among those: 

• Cincinnati
• Miami Hurricanes
• Michigan State
• Purdue

Evan is also a talented basketball player, as was Garyn. Evan was offered in hoops by Wright State and led the Cowboys in scoring last season at 17.3 points per game with 7.5 rebounds per contest. In 2016, Garyn played football and basketball with Evan (then a freshman) with Garyn scoring 16.8 points per game with 6.2 rebounds. That squad also featured the Edmonds brothers, Jake and Joey as sibling starters. Top scorer Lonnie Grayson, now of Army, was the only starter not related.

In Garyn Prater's senior season of football for coach Aaron Hancock at Wyoming, he had 54 catches for 1,093 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 20,2 yards per catch on a 12-1 team. Evan Prater was the freshman in for mop-up duty for then-starter Andrew Marty, so the two brothers were never able to hook up through the air at Wyoming.

That might change at a location to be determined.