Ohio State Recruiting: An Important Commit to the 2018 Class

This in-state linebacker was a must get for Ohio State.

Dallas Gant announced his decision where he would be playing college football today and committed to play for the Buckeyes. The outside linebacker is a tremendous addition to the 2018 Ohio State recruiting class.

Gant is ranked as the 5th best outside linebacker and No. 126 player in the country overall according to the 247Sports Composite. He is also ranked among the top in-state recruits in the 2018 class.

He has college ready size before he even enters his senior season of high school ball. Gant is listed at 6 ft. 3 in. and 225 pounds. He also has been clocked at 4.6 in the 40.

Gant is playing high school football for Toledo St. Johns so Notre Dame was the biggest challenger to Ohio State for the outstanding linebacker. Sometimes it’s difficult to pull a player away from Notre Dame when he plays for a Catholic high school but Urban Meyer managed to do so.

In Gant’s case, the Irish were interested early on in his recruitment and developed a strong relationship with him. But in the end, Urban was able to keep him home to play college football for the Buckeyes.

Evidently Gant was certain he wanted to be a Buckeye after visiting the campus in February for an Ohio State junior day. Here is some of the things Gant had to say as reported by Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports:

"“It became clear to me,” Gant told 247Sports remembering that morning. “Ever since then nothing has denied that.”“I know most people think it was between Ohio State and Notre Dame and that’s what it was,” Gant said. “I was just making sure Ohio State was the place I wanted to go.”“I love the coaches,” he said. “I’ve known Coach Meyer for a long time and Coach (Greg) Stud(wara) as well. They’ve been great to me. I like all the recruits, players and Columbus in general.“2017 was a really good class and we’re just trying to match that,” he said."

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This was an important get as Gant is only the second in-state recruit to commit to Ohio State so far. He joins all-purpose back Jaelen Gill of Westerville in the 2018 recruiting class.

Hopefully, with Gant’s commitment there will be other Ohio recruits who will soon follow suit. It really is an outstanding in-state class this year, with 13 players ranked as 4 star athletes, and at least one more who soon will be.

Many of them play positions of need Urban Meyer would like to fill in his 2018 recruiting class as well. It may be a situation where he could fill the majority of the openings ne has left in his class within driving distance of Columbus.

Next: Ohio State Will Break Records Again in 2018 NFL Draft?

4 and 5 star players get to know each other and talk often. It’s possible with Dallas Gant committing, not only did Ohio State get a terrific prospect, but he may bring a few of his buddies into the class as well. That would certainly be a good thing wouldn’t it?

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