4-star DT Jay Tufele picks USC over Ohio State

This may be Ohio State’s best recruiting class in school history, but that doesn’t mean they win every recruiting battle.

After fighting hard for Jay Tufele, the best player in the state of Utah, Tufele announced that he will be attending USC instead. He also strongly considered his hometown Utah Utes.

Landing Tufele out of Utah, where Urban Meyer used to coach and where the Buckeyes have been aggressive about pursuing elite talent as of late, would have been a nice feather in the cap of what’s been a superior recruiting class. Tufele, a high-four star rated as the third best defensive tackle in the country, and a top 50 player overall, would have addressed a position of need for the Buckeyes.

Fortunately, it’s not like the Buckeyes failed to address the interior of their defensive line in this recruiting class. They’ve added another high four-star defensive tackle from the west, Haskell Garrett from Las Vegas, along with Ohio’s own four-star, Jerron Cage. And Ohio State is still in the running for Marvin Wilson, a five-star and the top defensive tackle in the country, who will announce at 4 p.m. ET this afternoon, although landing him would be an upset at this point.

Congrats to Tufele.