Ohio State back to 13 commits with Todd Sibley flipping to Pittsburgh

Sibley flips to Pitt

Rumblings late Wednesday suggested that 2017 running back Todd Sibley (Akron, OH / Archbishop Hoban) would ultimately not be a member of the Buckeyes recruiting class. Ohio State, who has to be careful with space in this class, reportedly suggested that Sibley take a greyshirt spot with the program.

When the 5-foot-9, 205-pounder backed off of his pledge to the Buckeyes, it came as a surprise to pretty much no one. Sibley, a four-star prospect in the class and 19th best back in the country, instead chose the Pittsburgh path as he flipped his commitment to Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers.

Sibley, as expected, posted an extremely classy thank you to the Ohio State staff for giving him the opportunity and took the time to single out Head Coach Urban Meyer, Tony Alford and Mark Pantoni. Sibley was tremendously professional throughout the whole situation despite it surely being tough for him to handle.

For the Buckeyes, the loss of Sibley still keeps them at No. 1 in the 2017 team rankings with Alabama in striking distance. As mentioned, the loss of Sibley is no surprise as Ohio State has been actively pursuing guys like Cam Akers and Najee Harris (Alabama commit).

White sees Buckeyes

While on the topic of running backs, Ohio State had 247Sports' top back of next years recruiting class on campus on Wednesday. RB Zamir White (Laurinburg, NC / Scotland County) took in an unofficial visit to the program and got a first had look at the Buckeyes job fair day.

White is 6-foot-1, weighs in at 210 pounds and has already secured offers from 22 programs – and surely more will continue to pour in. But for the Buckeyes to get him on campus this early, is big news. It’ll be a priority for the Ohio State coaching staff to keep building a relationship with the talented back in hopes of ultimately bringing him to Columbus for good.

According to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball, the three teams currently in the best position for White would be Clemson, Georgia, and the in-state North Carolina Tar Heels. However, White did have a “great” visit yesterday. So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens here.

Carman and Clark see Ohio State, too

Also on campus on Wednesday was 2018 offensive tackle Jackson Carman (Fairfield, OH / Fairfield), a four-star prospect, who the Buckeyes seem to be in great shape with through his recruitment.

Judging by Carman’s tweet after the visit, things look good for Ohio State.

Sticking to the offensive side of the ball, Buckeye commit for 2017 Danny Clark (Massillon, OH / Archbishop Hoban) also made his rounds to see what Ohio State was about.

Granted, Clark has visited the campus before, it’s always cool to take a look at what your future holds.