The Ohio State football program has started a bit slowly when it comes to recruiting in the 2026 class. Right now, they have just five commits for that class. They were able to land one on Monday night, and that recruit is one of the best recruits in the state of Ohio.
Ryan Day has mentioned that he wants to keep the best recruits in the state of Ohio. He wants to make sure that other programs aren't getting that top talent. While he obviously can't keep every great recruit at home, he can certainly make it hard for those recruits to turn him down.
On Tuesday, the Ohio State Buckeyes had one of those top recruits in the state of Ohio turn them down. Instead of choosing the Buckeyes, four-star recruit Kaden Gebhardt decided to commit to Clemson. Instead of staying at home in Ohio, he will be playing for Dabo Swinney.
Ohio State football program loses out on a top in-state safety
The Buckeyes were hoping to land Gebhardt. They were in his final list of four schools, but that didn't matter to him. The Lewis Center native decided to head to Clemson. Gebhardt is a four-star safety out of Olentangy High School and is ranked as the 19th-highest-rated safety in the state of Ohio.
Ohio State was clearly interested in bringing Gebhardt in, even if he isn't the highest-rated safety in the state. The Buckeyes are hoping to land some of the other top in-state prospects, but it's very early in the process for the 2026 class. They would rather finish strong than start strong.
The Buckeyes have a lot of other irons in the fire as far as the top prospects in the state of Ohio. Surprisingly, there is not a five-star recruit in the state of Ohio this year. The top-rated recruits are four-star recruits, which is fine.
Ohio State will still likely land four of the top recruits in the state, but the state's top talent isn't there as it has been in the past. Maybe landing some more kids outside of the state might be better for this cycle.