Larry Johnson had one of the most unique recruiting experiences in his career when he spent 18 months pressing hard for J.T. Tuimoloau in a decision that came down to the 11th hour.
Of course, it’s well known by now Tuimoloau committed to Ohio State on July 4 and has already been impressive early in fall camp. With Johnson’s latest prized defensive linemen in the fold, the longtime veteran assistant has turned his recruiting efforts to the class of 2022.
The Buckeyes have yet to land a defensive line commit in the current cycle, but Johnson was optimistic about where OSU stands when he addressed the media this week, though he could not address any recruit by name because NCAA rules forbid college coaches from commenting on recruits until they’ve signed their National Letter of Intent.
“You spend a year and a half recruiting J.T., and now we have to get some 2022 guys in here,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a group of guys that we really like. Most kids, they’re going to take their time making their decisions. We’re not pressing them. We think we’re in good shape with all those guys, and we’ll see what happens.”
Top defensive line targets for Ohio State include Enai White, Kenyatta Jackson, Marvin Jones Jr., Caden Curry, Hero Kanu, Chris McClellan and Christen Miller.
Some of those may pick their school this fall. Jackson’s father told Eleven Warriors last month he’s down to Ohio State and Oklahoma, and will attend a game at both schools this fall. Others, like Kanu, don’t plan to commit until January.
Johnson admitted waiting can be the hardest part.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “My patience is good, but it’s not fun waiting for that last phone call.”
The Buckeyes would still happily take five-star defensive end Omari Abor, but the feeling around him is that he’s likely to play somewhere in the South.
There may also be one more target of interest where the defensive line is concerned:
OSU in running for Stewart
On3.com national recruiting analyst Chad Simmons dropped a very interesting nugget on Thursday.
Not only is Ohio State in the running for five-star 2022 defensive end Shemar Stewart, but the Buckeyes are considered one of the favorites to land him along with Texas A&M. His interest in OSU centers around – stop me if you’ve heard this before – playing for Johnson.
LSU had been a front runner for the Monsignor Pace (Opa Locka, Florida) in the summer, but apparently the buzz has cooled on the Tigers. Simmons also said not to discount Stewart’s hometown school, the Miami Hurricanes. Stewart is rated the eight-best player nationally and the third-best defensive lineman in the class, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Over the summer, Stewart took an official visit to LSU and unofficial visits to Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State and Texas A&M. He visited Miami three times. Stewart is reportedly going to take three official visits before making a decision and Ohio State and Texas A&M will be two of the three.
Reaction to Lockwood commitment
In case you missed it from earlier, Ty Lockwood became the first 2023 recruit to give his verbal commitment to Ohio State earlier this afternoon.
We have an article on what it means here. David Lockwood, Ty’s father, told Eleven Warriors that his son plans on helping recruit other players to the Buckeyes. Now that the first commitment of the cycle is out of the way, it will be interesting to see who the second domino to fall will be.
By the way, some very important 2023 recruits took notice of Lockwood’s commitment:
Congrats bro! https://t.co/jMcVKTLRvR
— Luke Montgomery (@lukeMonty8) August 19, 2021
— Carnell Tate (@carnelltate_) August 19, 2021
