A product of Toledo’s Whitmer High School, Carter Lowe was already centrally located in the heart of the Ohio State-Michigan divide. His recruitment will only continue to pit the archrival programs against each other.
The four-star 2025 recruit and No. 16 offensive tackle in the country already had multiple other high-profile camp appearances lined up after camping with the Buckeyes on June 12. After leaving Columbus, the fifth-rated player in the state said he was headed to a pair of blue-chip SEC programs. But without even being asked, Lowe made sure to add that the scarlet and gray and maize and blue will remain at the top of his list no matter what.
“This week I'll be going to Georgia and Alabama and I'm excited to go there and compete as well,” Lowe said after participating at the Buckeyes’ camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. “Ohio State and Michigan is always gonna be at the top for me, for sure, though.”
While Lowe is a Buckeye State native, Whitmer is less than an hour’s drive away from Ann Arbor. Lowe gave every indication that Ohio State and Michigan will be on equal footing as they battle to land his services, given that he didn’t grow up with a strong preference toward one or the other.
“I started off playing basketball, so I didn't root for anybody in football,” Lowe said. “So it was never Ohio State or Michigan. So I just got me a fresh start and I'm not biased at all. So I like that a lot.”
Lowe doesn’t intend to cut off communication with other programs, though. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman said he talks to Alabama position coach Eric Wolford every couple of weeks and thinks those interactions will become more frequent in the wake of his visit to the program – during which he earned a scholarship offer.
After a great camp I am blessed ti receive and offer from University of Alabama!! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/Wb9rCr6cIm
— Carter Lowe (@big_carter72) June 17, 2023
Had a great time at University of Georgias camp today!! @SSearels @AmourManrey75 @KirbySmartUGA pic.twitter.com/EqrbN6KcfC
— Carter Lowe (@big_carter72) June 15, 2023
Lowe also intends to visit multiple Southern schools for gamedays once the football season starts this fall. But it came as little surprise that he listed The Game as the top contest he wants to attend in 2023.
“I'll probably be at the Ohio State-Michigan game, hopefully I can get to definitely a Georgia game, maybe a Tennessee game, something like that,” Lowe said.
As for what he likes about both programs, Lowe mentioned the high-level defensive linemen that Ohio State and Michigan routinely produce because “I like to go against the best.”
Lowe got a chance to match up against some of the better defensive linemen in the high school ranks at Ohio State’s camp, and offensive line coach Justin Frye spent much of his time personally working with Lowe between one-on-one competition reps to close out the camp. Afterward, Lowe – who received an Ohio State offer on Jan. 27 (two days before the Wolverines offered) – was named an MVP of the camp by Frye.
Had a great time today at The Ohio State University working with @CoachJFrye and @CoachSollenne! Excited to be named MVP pic.twitter.com/1CthKaNP3i
— Carter Lowe (@big_carter72) June 12, 2023
The No. 141 recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings enjoyed his time on campus and said he hopes to continue building relationships at Ohio State moving forward.
“I had a really fun time. I really come out here to compete every year and get better,” Lowe said. “And I really think I did that today. We did a lot of different stuff with run blocking that we don't do at my school. It's a lot of new drills I can take home and improve on.
Ohio 2025 four-star offensive tackle Carter Lowe looks impressive in drills so far.
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) June 12, 2023
The Toledo resident is a big-time Ohio State target in the 2025 class. pic.twitter.com/KlVxVhg3wW
“it was mostly a lot of critiquing, where I want to set and stuff like that. I enjoyed that a lot. I love Coach Frye's coaching. We talk about once every two weeks. I talk to Coach (Tim) Hinton a lot too, and he usually puts him on the phone. We have a really good relationship and I like talking to him a lot. I hope I can build my relationship through these couple years until I commit.”
Lowe also got some face time with Buckeye head coach Ryan Day, who he said expressed just how much the program would love to bring him into the fold one day.
“I talked to him for a while today. I like talking to him a lot,” Lowe said. “He talked to me about how much he wants me, how much they would care for me if I come here and I really appreciate that.”
In terms of Ohio State players, Lowe said he’s mostly spoken with freshman lineman Luke Montgomery, who went to high school not far from him at Findlay. Lowe said he looks forward to meeting more Buckeyes in the future.
Positionally, Lowe said he would play either on the outside or the inside at the next level, but that Ohio State seems to like him at tackle.
“I wouldn't mind, obviously. Wherever they put me is where I like,” Loew said. “But I think they like me at tackle right now. I like tackle, left tackle, specifically.”
Entering his junior season of high school football in 2023, Lowe said his commitment decision is likely to come around this time next year. Given everything he said about Ohio State and Michigan, it would come as a bit of a surprise if he didn’t end up on one side of the rivalry or the other when he begins his college career.
