Ohio State football loses four-star recruit to SEC

The Ohio State football team is trying to wrap up its 2023 recruiting class. They already have 20 commits for the class and could take up to five more players depending on what happens. Unfortunately, they have dropped to 6th now in the recruiting rankings.

Even worse than that, the Buckeyes lost out on a four-star recruit that they thought they were going to land. Yesterday, Desmond Umeozulu decided to commit to South Carolina. He is from Maryland, which Larry Johnson has a track record of recruiting well.

After Umeozulu’s visit to Columbus in June, the Buckeyes felt very confident that they were going to be able to land him. This was two weeks after he had decided to visit South Carolina. Ohio State always feels like if they get the last visit, they can win over the recruit.

It didn’t happen this time. Instead, Umeozulu decided to be a Gamecock. While it’s surprising, and certainly stings, it’s not the end of the world. The Buckeyes still have a few other recruits they are keeping their eyes on in the Fall. Several recruits will be in attendance this weekend for the opener.

Ohio State does need to finish the recruiting cycle strong though. What once had a chance to be the best recruiting class in school history has now slipped into someone mediocrity by Ohio State football standards. They need to have at least a top-three class for this cycle to be considered successful.

We’ll see if the Buckeyes are able to get the remaining recruits that they have on their board. A convincing win this weekend would certainly help sway the thoughts of some prospects. Success on the field is the best recruiting tool that they have.

It’s a bummer that the Bucks lost out on Umeozulu but there are other fish in the sea.