Ohio State football: Has Gaoteote joined the Buckeyes?

Did the Ohio State football team land a former five-star linebacker? If you look at the student directory, it sure looks like it.

Have the Buckeyes gotten a transfer linebacker? According to longtime Ohio State insider Steve Helwagen of Bucknuts, former USC linebacker Palaie Gaoteote is now listed in the OSU student directory.

A month ago it looked like Gaoteote would commit to the Buckeyes any day. Not only did that not happen, we stopped hearing any news at all on him. When the huge recruiting month of June got here, he was all but forgotten.

Helwagen points out another summer semester begins for Ohio State on Tuesday and all of the players are on campus, so it looks like Al Washington, Jr. has gotten some much-needed help for his linebacker group.

The 6’2”, 250-pound cousin of Ohio State defensive lineman Haskell Garrett should push Dallas Gant for the starting job at the Mike (middle) linebacker spot. In his three seasons with the Trojans he had 105 tackles, 7 ½ tackles for loss, and two sacks. Injuries limited him to just fourteen starts, so keeping him healthy is a concern. Gaoteote is someone who can really help this defense. That big body is tailor-made for run stuffing. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

The Ohio State football program recruited Gaoteote hard when he was coming out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. He was a five-star player who was the top-rated linebacker in the country and the fifteenth overall player. When he entered the transfer portal, it was thought he was heading to Texas.

The Buckeyes contacted him after losing out on Tennessee transfer linebacker Henry To’o To’o to Alabama and immediately moved ahead of the Longhorns for Gaoteote’s services. It is all but confirmed he’s now a part of the Ohio State program.