Heading into the Fourth of July, the Ohio State football team was seen as one of the top two schools for Felix Ojo. The five-star tackle had mentioned those were his top two schools as recently as a week ago. Things changed on July 3rd, when something big happened.
That's when Ojo received a crystal ball prediction to end up at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were not even in his final four schools, which is what made things so shocking. Fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes held out hope that they could still land him, though.
It was not to be. Texas Tech came off the top rope to steal Ojo from both the Buckeyes and the Longhorns. Ojo made that decision on Instagram Live just after 2 pm ET on Friday. It's clear that Tech came in with a massive NIL bag, and that's all Ojo is concerned with.
Ohio State football team loses Felix Ojo to Texas Tech at the 11th hour
While Ojo has an impressive set of physical skills, he has been trending in the wrong direction for a while. He got absolutely cooked at the Rivals camp last week, including by an Ohio State recruit. It was so bad that he had to issue a statement about his bad play.
Jumping ship on two teams that have been recruiting him for a while to collect a large bag is a bad look for him. Ohio State has steadily maintained that it will not go crazy for any single recruit when it comes to NIL funds, and they stuck to their principles.
If Ojo really is as good as he thinks he is, a massive NIL bag shouldn't be what he is chasing. These five-star recruits should be going to programs that can develop them for the next level so that they can excel in the NFL. That's where the real money is.
Tyler Bowen has been gobbling up offensive linemen, so this isn't a massive hit. While Ojo was the highest-rated recruit he had on his board, he's got others who can take his place in the class.