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Ohio State Football: Buckeyes Lose 5-Star DB commit

By Frank Teriaca

Ohio State Buckeyes secondary coach Tim Walton works with players during a spring football practice at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center in Columbus on March 22, 2022.Ncaa Football Ohio State Spring Practice
Ohio State Buckeyes secondary coach Tim Walton works with players during a spring football practice at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center in Columbus on March 22, 2022.Ncaa Football Ohio State Spring Practice /
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The Ohio State football team got some bad news over the weekend as 2025 five-star defensive back recruit Jontae Gilbert de-committed.

The Ohio State football team has lost its prized member of the 2025 recruiting class as five-star defensive back Jontae Gilbert has de-committed. Gilbert was the first member of the 2020 class to commit to the Buckeyes, so this announcement certainly stings.

It’s also a tough situation due to the obvious need for talented players at the backend of this Ohio State defense. Gilbert told this to On3 recruiting on Saturday:

"“First off I want to thank God for all of the blessings he has been sending my way. I want to thank my family, friends, and coaches for supporting me through my decision,” Gilbert told On3 of his decommitment. “This was a very hard decision to make but after long talks with my family and my coaches I now want to say I am opening back up my recruiting and decommit from Ohio State. Respect my decision. Thank you Buckeye Nation for everything and to all the Ohio State coaching staff.”"

While this is a blow to Ohio State recruiting, this should not come as a total surprise. Gilbert has taken multiple visits to schools such as Texas Tech, South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. I’m sure that Ohio State coaches must have seen this coming.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for cornerbacks coach Tim Walton in 2025. The Buckeyes are in on a number of corners including Five-star recruit Devin Sanchez of Houston Texas and four-star recruit Mark Zackery of Indianapolis.

Ohio State only has four-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair as the lone member of its 2025 class as of now. Hopefully, as the Buckeyes start to finish off this 2024 class, we start to see the next class begin to take shape.

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As for what’s next on the recruiting front, Ohio State hopes to add a top-flight corner to its 2024 class tonight as four-star recruit Aaron Scott is going to be making his decision. This seems to be a 50/50 battle between the Buckeyes and Michigan.

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