Earlier this summer, four-star Illinois tight end Christian Bentancur became the fourth tight end Ohio State offered in the 2024 class.
Bentancur camped with Ohio State on June 15 and impressed tight ends coach Kevin Wilson enough to merit a Buckeyes offer after impressing Wilson with his footwork and agility in drills. The offer, which came from Ryan Day personally, left quite the impression on Betancur, who also visited OSU on April 8.
After a great camp and conversation with @ryandaytime, Im blessed to say that I have received another offer from Ohio State!! @OSUCoachKDub @etwill21 @AllenTrieu @Rivals_Clint @Rivals @247Sports @MarianCentralFB @EDGYTIM @OhioStateFB #blessed pic.twitter.com/bzJnzX2JbD
— Christian Bentancur (@cbentancur18) June 15, 2022
“It’s crazy to have an offer from one of the top schools in the nation,” Bentancur told Eleven Warriors in June. “It’s just nuts. (Wilson) just said he liked what he saw. He said he just needed to see like how I ran and he liked how I moved and like my flexibility and stuff like that.”
Bentancur hopes to soon be back on Ohio State’s campus, as he confirmed to Eleven Warriors he is hoping to attend the Buckeyes’ season opener against Notre Dame on Sept. 3.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end has plenty of interest in the Buckeyes.
“The most appealing thing (about Ohio State) is they compete for national championships every year,” Bentancur said. “They’re also going to develop me to the best of my ability to go to the NFL.”
Though Bentancur is being recruited by OSU as a tight end, he plays wide receiver for Marian Central Catholic (Woodstock, Illinois). He caught 53 passes for 1,165 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
“I'd say I'm more of a pass-catching tight end because in our offense, the last couple of years for high school football we didn't have like really a tight end so I was mostly a wide receiver,” Bentancur said.
Wilson gave Bentancur feedback on how he can improve as a player going forward during his time on campus.
“The main thing is just like keeping my speed and getting a little faster,” Bentancur said on Wilson’s advice. “I don't really have to gain any more weight and he also just wanted me to improve a little bit on blocking, which will come over time.”
Babalade, Gullette commit elsewhere
As expected, neither Oluwatosin Babalade nor Derion Gullette picked Ohio State when both announced their commitments Friday.
Babalade, a four-star Maryland offensive tackle who made an official visit to Ohio State from June 17-19, picked South Carolina.
Home!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/0KTEcx67Qz
— Oluwatosin Babalade (@_Bigtree23) August 5, 2022
Gullette, a four-star linebacker from Texas, committed to his hometown Longhorns. Gullette had the Buckeyes in his final three schools and took an official visit to Columbus June 10-12, but chose to stay closer to home.
Its been a crazy journey , but Im blessed to say that I am committing to the University of Texas! #HookEm @TexasFootball @CoachSark @CoachChoateUT pic.twitter.com/wUxc9Wafjz
— Derion Gullette (@DerionGullette) August 5, 2022
Spillman hopes to attend Michigan game
One of Ohio State’s 2024 linebacker targets has his eyes set on attending the Buckeyes’ rivalry game later this fall. Four-star Tennesee linebacker Edwin Spillman told Eleven Warriors he will visit an Ohio State game later this fall, most likely the Michigan game.
Spillman, a top-100 prospect in his class, has visited Ohio State three times, most recently on April 16 for the Buckeyes’ spring game. It was the first time Spillman met a majority of the newly hired defensive staff.
“I really enjoyed visiting Ohio State, it was a really cool place,” Spillman said after his visit in April. “Just getting to meet the coaching staff. It was a great visit. When I watched the game, I was mostly viewing how the linebackers were reacting off plays and what types of drops they were making so I could learn from that point on. I got to sit in meetings with them before the spring game and hear the conversations and everything like that. It was really cool.”
