Ohio State looks to add more 4- and 5-star talent to their 2018 class

The Ohio State Buckeyes are heading into their bye week. After that, the clash with the Penn State Nittany Lions will become the focal point, as playoff and Big Ten championship aspirations will be on the line on Oct. 28.

However, before we get to that game, there is still work to be done. On top of the game prep, the recruiting trail still needs to be traveled—and that’s exactly what the coaches are doing this week.

California Dreamin’

Linebackers coach Bill Davis was one of the coaches who packed his bags and went out onto the recruiting trail. On Monday, Davis ended up in California to take in a practice with Solomon Tuliaupupu (Santa Ana/Mater Dei) being the focus, according to Bill Kurelic of 247sports.

Tuliaupupu is one of the top players in the state of California, and at his position. According to 247sports, the Mater Dei standout is the third-best player in his state, and the second-best inside linebacker for the 2018 class.

In the article by Kurelic, the Mater Dei coached talked with Davis—and things seemed to go well. Additionally, Kurelic talked to Solomon’s father, who said that an Ohio State visit will “definitely” be on the list. Whether that will be at a game or a campus visit remains to be seen; Michigan State (Nov. 11) and Illinois (Nov. 28) are the only remaining home games—outside of Penn State—that the Buckeyes have this season.

While Davis is making the trip out West, getting Tuliaupupu out of California to commit may be a bigger hurdle. Right now on the 247sports Crystal Ball Predictions, eight of the nine predictions point to Tuliaupupu committing to the USC Trojans. However, the last two predictions, one made on May 30 and the other on July 19, are for Ohio State and USC, respectively.

There is still time for OSU to make a move and get another top talent out of California. Especially with a visit nearly set in stone, the Buckeyes can make a big move against the Trojans at that time.

Speaking of making a move on the Trojans...

Not so fast

In the same article by Kurelic, he notes that five-star ILB Palaie Gaoteote (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman) will take an official visit to Ohio State.

Gaoteote, like Tuliaupupu, is part of the 2018 class. However, the difference is that Gaoteote committed to USC back on Feb. 19. It’s not too uncommon for someone who is committed to take visits to other schools. But, it does open the door for a potential switcheroo—decommitment followed by a commitment—to occur.

According to his 247sports profile an official visit date hasn’t been scheduled. As mentioned before, there aren’t too many football games left on the slate, if that was when the visit was going to happen.

This is definitely something to keep an eye on, as there is still time for a shakeup to happen before National Signing Day 2018.