Ohio State makes the cut for 2 more elite recruits

Urban Meyer has successfully brought Ohio State recruiting to an unthinkable level. It seems that day after day, the best recruits in the country list the Buckeyes among their top schools and Monday was no different.

Following a weekend camp in which Ohio State hosted some of the top prospects in the country, the program continued to roll as ASA College junior college prospect, Badara Traore, released his top seven schools. As expected, the Buckeyes made the cut.

Traore is seen as one of the top junior college transfers in the country and it shows as he has offers from most top-level college football programs. Along with Ohio State, the four-star offensive tackle included Nebraska, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Oregon and Oklahoma in his list of top schools.

The Buckeyes have already been able to earn commitments from two of the top offensive line recruits in the 2018 recruiting class in recent four-star OT commit Matthew Jones and fellow four-star OT Max Wray, but the program appears to be looking to add one more ‘slob’ to the class.

If the coaches decide that they want Traore to be that guy, they may have a secret weapon in getting him to choose Columbus. Before playing for ASA College, Traore played for Nassau Community College, a familiar school for Meyer and the Buckeye coaching staff. Current Buckeye OT Malcolm Pridgeon attended Nassau C.C. before transferring to Ohio State. The two OTs know each other well and could set the Buckeyes apart from the rest of the field.

2019 top 10 OT includes Ohio State in top 5

Sticking with the guys in the trenches, the Buckeyes learned the early work they put in with OT Doug Nester (Huntington, WV/ Spring Valley) is paying off. The four-star OT released his top five schools Monday afternoon and again, Ohio State made the cut.

The Buckeyes have their hands full with Nester, however. The No. 6 OT in the 2019 recruiting class included Virginia Tech, Alabama, Florida and West Virginia alongside Ohio State in his list of schools he is most interested in.

While Nester has only played a couple of seasons of high school football, he already projects as one of the top players in the class, no matter the position. Ohio State was one of the first programs to extend an offer to Nester, which is one of the many reasons he is highly interested in joining the program.

For the majority of his recruitment, it appeared that Ohio State and hometown school West Virginia were going to be the programs to beat out for his commitment. However, Alabama recently joined the list of suitors for Nester and has quickly earned a spot in the schools he is most interested in. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide hosted Nester last weekend and he left the visit impressed and with an offer.

It is still early in Nester’s recruitment, and with the amount of attention he has already earned, he will likely take his time in making a final decision.