Pair of five-star corners list Ohio State in top schools

Ohio State overcame what should be one of the team’s biggest roadblocks on the path to the College Football Playoffs on Saturday. While the win is the most important of the season so far, the Buckeyes showed there is still plenty of work to be done to achieve the end goal.

After Ohio State’s performance Saturday against the Hoosiers, Buckeye Nation should be happy to hear that one of the nation’s top cornerbacks in 2022 has Ohio State as a final contender.

Five-star CB Will Johnson (Grosse Pointe, MI/Grosse Point South) listed the Buckeyes as one of his final five schools moving forward. Alongside the Buckeyes, Johnson listed Michigan, Arizona State, Oklahoma and USC in his list of schools to consider moving forward.

Johnson has recently been connected to Ohio State through rumors surrounding who will be next to commit to the Buckeyes, however this is likely not the case. Kerry Coombs, Ryan Day and Ohio State still have plenty of work to do in securing a commitment — especially considering Michigan still holds 100 percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions after Johnson visited Ann Arbor a week ago.

However, expectations should be lowered for those looking for a commitment anytime soon. Johnson will likely wait to make a decision in hopes of visiting the above mentioned schools. The Ohio State coaching staff is probably on the same page, because if the school is able to host him on a visit, its chances in securing a commitment will only increase.

Johnson is the No. 4 CB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2022 class.

But wait, there’s more

Johnson wasn’t the only five-star CB to list Ohio State in his top five schools Monday, though. Fellow 2022 five-star CB Jaheim Singletary (Jacksonville, FL/Robert E. Lee) spoke with Andrew Ivans of 247Sports and listed a final five schools of Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Florida and LSU.

In addition to his top five schools, Singletary also took to Twitter Monday morning announcing a decision date of Jan. 2.

Singletary has kept his recruitment rather close to the vest, and the news Monday of his final five schools and his decision date was the biggest update in his recruitment in some time. For Buckeye Nation, the timing could mean good news in the future.

The hometown program, Florida, has long been viewed as the favorite, as he has spoken more on this school than any other. However, Ohio State offered Singletary just a few weeks ago, and the recent offer seems to have made a lasting impression. A few weeks ago, Singletary had the following to say about the Buckeyes when speaking with Blake Alderman of Swamp247:

“It’s Ohio State, they put a lot of DBs in the league and it’s a dream to go to a DBU school. They got guys from Jacksonville there like Shaun Wade, Tyreke Johnson and [Marcus] Crowley. Since Ohio State offered me, I have talked to them every day.”

Singletary is the No. 5 CB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 10 overall prospect in the 2022 class.

Ohio State is very much in the running for both Singletary and the aforementioned Johnson. Both would make for an excellent addition to the Buckeyes’ class alongside four-star CB commit Jyaire Brown.

Quick Hits

• Ohio State secured another major commitment in its 2022 recruiting class when five-star WR Caleb Burton III committed to Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ pipeline into Texas is going incredibly strong, having now hauled in the top two players in the state in Burton and QB Quinn Ewers. Burton is already trying to bring more guys from the Lone Star State along with him to Columbus, telling Birm of Lettermen Row that he has already spoken to Denver Harris (five-star corner out of Houston) and Evan Stewart (four-star receiver out of Frisco).