The Ohio State football team has had an extremely slow finish to the 2023 recruiting cycle. The early signing period is fast approaching, as it’s on December 21st. Ryan Day was looking to finish the recruiting class strong, even possibly grabbing a string of defensive ends.
They won’t be getting at least one of those defensive ends now. Keon Keeley, who was Ohio State’s top target remaining on their board, has spurned them for hated SEC foe Alabama. Keeley had originally committed to Notre Dame before deciding to re-open his recruitment.
Ohio State football loses out on Keon Keeley.
Keeley is one of the best players in this recruiting class. He’s the tenth-best prospect in the country and is rated as a five-star recruit by all of the services. He’s a really good player and he makes the Crimson Tide a better program with him deciding to go there.
This is a tough pill to swallow for Ryan Day and his staff. Keeley was someone they really thought they had a shot at after he de-committed from Notre Dame. Keeley did visit Alabama twice though, so Ohio State knew it was looking like he was going to end up in Tuscaloosa.
Ohio State’s top target now is Damon Wilson. He is projected to pick the Buckeyes, but he has not committed yet. That would be a big boost to this recruiting class. As it stands now, the Buckeyes have the fifth-best class in the country. They sit behind, Bama, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas.
Ohio State has the fewest number of commitments of any of those programs with just 19. They have room to add some more guys. The question is how many more guys they will be able to add before Signing Day in February. We’ll see if the staff has anything up their sleeves.