It’s hard to imagine Dawayne Galloway could have done much more than he did on Wednesday to convince Ohio State that he deserves an offer.
The four-star Columbus cornerback, who is the highest-ranked Ohioan in the 2025 class (No. 122 overall in the 247Sports composite) that hasn’t received an Ohio State offer, started his day at Ohio State’s first high school football camp of the month by running a 4.35-second 40-yard dash. He followed that up with a dominant performance in one-on-ones in which he didn’t allow a single pass completion.
Marion-Franklin (Columbus) cornerback Dawayne Galloway, the sixth-ranked prospect in Ohios 2025 recruiting class, was one of the biggest standouts at Ohio States first high school football camp of the summer.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 5, 2024
Ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash and was dominant in one-on-ones. pic.twitter.com/p28lOfEygz
With the Buckeyes looking to add another cornerback to their 2025 recruiting class following the decommitment of Blake Woodby, Galloway looks the part of a promising option right in Ohio State’s backyard.
The Marion-Franklin senior is the highest-rated cornerback from the city of Columbus in the composite recruiting ranking era. The only players from the entire Buckeye State ranked ahead of him in the 2025 cycle are a trio of Ohio State commits – quarterback Tavien St. Clair, offensive tackle Carter Lowe and running back Bo Jackson – and a pair of high-priority defensive targets in safety Trey McNutt and edge rusher/linebacker Justin Hill.
Even though he plans to announce a commitment in just one month on July 5, Galloway says an Ohio State offer would be a game-changer in his recruitment.
“It would mean a lot, especially me being like 15 minutes down the road, me growing up watching them. So that would be great for me,” Galloway told Eleven Warriors after Wednesday’s camp. “That would probably change my recruitment a lot.”
Despite his excellent showing at Wednesday’s camp, Galloway left Ohio State without an offer. That likely has more to do with who the Buckeyes already have and who they are still hoping to land at his position than anything else.
With commitments already in hand from the No. 1 (Devin Sanchez) and No. 2 (Na’eem Offord) cornerbacks in the 2025 class, Ohio State can afford to be selective with offering anyone else at the position. The Buckeyes would love to land a third five-star cornerback in the cycle by signing Dorian Brew – who’s also an Ohio native, though he currently resides in Texas – and may be hesitant to offer any other cornerbacks as they look to show Brew he’s their top uncommitted priority at the position.
That said, it was apparent during Wednesday’s camp that Tim Walton and the rest of Ohio State’s coaching staff were keeping a close eye on Galloway, who’s ranked as the No. 13 cornerback in the 2025 class. Walton had a lengthy conversation with Galloway after the camp concluded and told Galloway he would be calling him to talk further on Wednesday night.
“He said I did very good in the one-on-ones,” Galloway said.
Galloway says he has a good relationship with Walton, who has been recruiting him since before his junior year at Columbus’ Marion-Franklin High School. And he says he doesn’t hold it against Ohio State that the Buckeyes haven’t offered him yet.
“A school wants what they want,” Galloway said. “I got other schools who are recruiting me. So I'm just taking it slow, taking everybody slow. They're going to take their time. I'm taking my time.”
Galloway believes Ohio State should offer him, though, because of what he can offer the Buckeyes as a local product.
“I'm an Ohio guy. I'm 15 minutes down the road. I'm a top-10 cornerback in the country. I don't think we’ve had one of those in a long time in the city,” said Galloway.
“That would probably change my recruitment a lot.”– Dawayne Galloway on possibly getting an Ohio State offer
Ohio State will need to make its move sooner than later if it wants to get into the race for Galloway, given that his commitment is just over four weeks away. Having received more than two dozen offers, Galloway has plenty of interested suitors. He made an official visit to West Virginia last weekend and will make official visits to Purdue, Syracuse, Kentucky and Penn State over the next three weeks.
Galloway said he would add an Ohio State official visit to his schedule if he receives an offer from the Buckeyes.
Ultimately, Galloway says he plans to commit to the school where he feels like he’s at home and has the best relationship with the coaching staff.
“The relationship with the coaches and wherever I feel like home, that's where I'm going,” Galloway said.
