Ohio State makes cut for four-star OT

A cool, spring breeze was in the air Monday, as the Buckeyes wrapped up one of their final spring football practices of the year. With most of the focus being on the practice, you may have missed Ohio State making the recruiting headlines. Just in case, no need to worry as Land-Grant Holy Land has you covered.

Four-star OT has Ohio State in top 5

Ohio State has jumped out to an incredible start in the 2022 recruiting cycle. With 11 verbal commitments, including a handful of five-star prospects, the Buckeyes sit at No. 1 in the 247Sports team rankings. What should scare the Big Ten and college football as a whole is this is likely only the half of it.

The program moved one step closer into securing another blue-chip prospect when four-star offensive tackle Tyler Booker listed the team among his top five schools he will focus on in the remainder of his recruitment.

Ohio State will have some stiff competition for Booker, as he also included Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Florida in his top schools.

Thanks to all the schools who have been recruiting me and thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way. These are my top 5 schools that I will take official visits to and ultimately make my final decision from. #respeCT #RollTide #GoDawgs #GoGators #GoBuckeyes #ScoDucks

In addition to having Ohio State in his top five, he also stated these will be the schools he will use his official visits to. With the unprecedented recruiting dead period due to the pandemic finally expected to come to a close this summer, official visits will start being scheduled sooner than later. Look at the weekend of June 4-6 as a target date for Booker to visit Columbus, as the weekend is shaping up to be this year’s Buckeye Bash. However, an official date has yet to be set.

Ohio State offered Booker back in October, and quickly became a major player in his recruitment. It certainly will be tough to pry him out of SEC Country, but Ohio State has had success with IMG Academy, earning a commitment in 2020 from cornerback Lejond Cavazos, and has been able to secure a commitment from a fellow Floridian, five-star cornerback Jaheim Singletary, in the current cycle.

The Buckeyes have already secured an OT in the 2022 class in Tegra Tshabola, but Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff know the importance of shoring up the line to have a successful offense, looking to bring in at least four linemen in the class.

Booker is the No. 41 overall prospect, the No. 5 OT and the No. 8 player in the talent-rich state of Florida.

Quick Hits

• Over the weekend Ohio State, verbal commitments and targets took part in the Under Armor Camp in Columbus. Attending the event were Ohio State 2022 linebacker commits C.J. Hicks, Gabe Powers and Dasan McCullough as well as offensive line commit Tegra Tshabola. The event was the first time the group has all met in person, but you wouldn’t know that from watching how they interacted throughout the camp. They were seen joking around and posing for multiple pictures, as you can see below.

• Ohio State is officially beginning some very early work on the 2024 class, sending out their first offer in the cycle to linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. The St. John Bosco product stands at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, and already holds over seven offers including Michigan, Oregon and USC with the Buckeyes now hopping on board.

• It looks like Ohio State’s top safety target Xavier Nwankpa will be dropping a new top schools list at the beginning of May. The Buckeyes were included in the Iowa native’s top 12 back in January, and will certainly make the cut this time around as the apparent leader in the recruitment of the nation’s No. 5 safety and No. 68 overall player in 2022.