Ohio State makes cut for four-star OT

It’s starting to feel like football. Finally.

Things are beginning to seem normal again. On Monday, the Ohio State football team arrived at the Woody Hayes Facility for voluntary workouts. While the start of practice had new challenges because of the Coronavirus, the fact alone the football team got together and practiced for the first time breathed some much needed fresh air into Buckeye Nation.

In addition to the voluntary workouts, it also appears the NCAA could be releasing its schedule to begin the college football season with no delays.

With all this going on, it would be safe to say that recruiting could take a back seat. However, with the unexpected recruiting dead period due to the virus, Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff have seemed to find a way to push forward on the recruiting front even harder. Because of this, OSU has vaulted to the top of the 247Sports 2021 recruiting team rankings.

The positive momentum continued on Monday when the program learned it made the cut for four-star offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger (Clarkston, MI/Clarkston).

Alongside Ohio State, Dellinger included Michigan, Penn State and LSU in his final four schools moving forward.

In addition to releasing his final four schools, Dellinger also has a commitment date in mind. He is currently scheduled to announce his decision on June 24, 2020. While three of the four schools the Michigan native included in his top four are in the Big Ten, the reigning National Champions, LSU, are the favorite in his recruitment.

It appears Ohio State’s inability to get Dellinger on campus due to the unprecedented time these last few months is what did them in in Dellinger recruitment. However, expect the coaching staff to put in some last minute work if they want him on the team.

If the Buckeyes are unable to secure a commitment from Dellinger, the class is still in strong shape. The team already holds commitments from four-star offensive guard Donovan Jackson and four-star OT Ben Christman. As well as being in the running for multiple others.

JC Latham Update

A lot has been happening lately in five-star OT JC Latham’s (Bradenton, FL/IMG Academy) recruitment lately, and the rumor mill is spinning. Unfortunately, it appears to not be in favor of Ohio State and, depending on who you have been following and believing, this may be a very big surprise and disappointment.

It basically began on June 6, when Latham took to Twitter looking for a commitment edit. At this point, many still believed Ohio State to be the school of choice, as had been the overwhelming feeling throughout much of his recruitment. However, things quickly began to shift and it now appears Alabama is the favorite to land his commitment.

What once appeared to be a sure-fire commitment for Ohio State, sadly appears to have now be a challenge to overcome. Similar to Dellinger above, it appears not being able to get Latham on campus again has been the downfall of the program’s efforts.

If Latham does in fact choose to continue his football career at Alabama, this has no ill views on Ryan Day or Ohio State’s ability to recruit. Expect many more situations like this to continue over the coming months. If recruits are unable to take visits to schools they are interest in, many will likely commit to schools closer to home.

However, if recruits are able to start taking visits later in the year there could be more de-commitments as well. Just like everything else in the world in 2020, college football recruiting is facing unprecedented times, and recruiting has never been easy to predict in the first place.

Quick Hits

• One of Ohio’s top basketball recruits is getting close to narrowing down his list. Malaki Branham, the No. 2 player in the state and the No. 4 SG in the nation, tweeted out on Monday that he is close to dropping his top seven. The 6-foot-4 St. Vincent-St. Mary product has one Crystal Ball prediction at this time, and it is in favor of Ohio State.