Ohio State Football: OSU on the verge of losing out on 3 big time recruits
The Ohio State football team is on the verge of losing out on three top defensive end recruits. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen.
The Ohio State football team might be on the verge of total collapse when it comes to defensive end recruiting. Once a place where five-star recruits lined up to play at, defensive line coach Larry Johnson might go 0-3 on five-star recruits this cycle.
It started yesterday when the top defensive end in the 2023 class, Keon Keely, announced he would be attending Alabama to play ball. That one wasn’t much of a shock, although the Buckeyes were in on him hard when he de-committed from Notre Dame last August.
That leaves fellow five-star ends, Damon Wilson and Matayo Uiagalelei as the other two possibilities for Ohio State. Wilson, who has been crystal-balled to the Buckeyes, is starting to trend to Georgia according to recent reports. Losing out on Wilson would be a big loss here. He has been seen as a Buckeye lean for quite a while now.
Uiagalelei still has the Ohio State football program in his top three when he announces his commitment on December 21st, but momentum has been on the side of the west coast schools of Oregon and USC for a little bit now.
If Ohio State does indeed lose out on all three top prospects it would be time to start asking questions about recruiting. Coach Ryan Day and Athletic Director Gene Smith seem to be worried that NIL deals from other schools are making Ohio State a less attractive option for some players.
Larry Johnson has proven to be one of the best in the country in terms of recruiting and developing talent. I don’t believe the issue is with him. It’s an overall problem with the NIL system that is in place in college sports. It’s like the wild west out there with no transparency of funds or direction from the NCAA on how NIL is supposed to work.
Next. The one player OSU must stop in the Peach Bowl. dark
It probably won’t last like this for long. Too many people will be bamboozled out of money from these collectives. But in the meantime, this is what Ohio State has to deal with. Hopefully the Buckeyes can still snag Uigalelei or Wilson before signing day.