Saturday will be a pivotal day for Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class.
The Buckeyes will get a long-awaited answer from five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr., who is by far the highest priority target remaining on OSU’s board. Sanders, the No. 1-ranked offensive tackle recruit in the 2025 cycle, is set to announce his commitment at 12:30 p.m. Saturday (though the announcement may actually be closer to 1:15) at his high school and will pick between Ohio State, Tennessee, Georgia and Nebraska.
I will be committing this Saturday!
— David Sanders Jr. (@DavidLSandersJr) August 12, 2024
Where: Providence Day Gymnasium (The Mac)
Time: 12:30
Everyone is welcome! See you there pic.twitter.com/63BsgqATVs
Though he has four finalists, most involved in the process understand it’s mainly a two-way battle between Tennessee and OSU for Sanders’ commitment. All of the momentum the past two weeks has shifted towards Tennessee, with recruiting insiders from various networks logging predictions in favor of the Vols for Sanders.
Where we stand, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if Sanders ultimately ends up in Knoxville, but a source indicated Monday that the Buckeyes believe they are still very much in the thick of things for the standout offensive tackle. If we were handicapping it, the odds would probably come in at a 55 percent chance for Tennessee to land Sanders, with OSU having a 45% chance to secure its top remaining target.
We’ll see how things play out the rest of the week.
OSU lands four commits on MaxPreps’ 2024 Preseason All-American first-team
Eight Ohio State commits appeared on MaxPreps’ 2024 Preseason All-American team released on Monday, with four generating first-team honors and four getting named to the second team. Prospects from any recruiting class were eligible for the All-American team.
Wideout Chris Henry Jr. (class of 2026), cornerback Devin Sanchez, cornerback Na’eem Offord and linebacker Riley Pettijohn were all selected to MaxPreps’ 2024 Preseason All-American first-team. Meanwhile, wide receiver Quincy Porter, defensive lineman Zion Grady, linebacker Tarvos Alford and safety Faheem Delane earned second-team honors.
Messiah Delhomme commits to Maryland
As expected, four-star 2025 Virginia safety Messiah Delhomme did not pick Ohio State on Saturday. The top-200 prospect opted to commit to Big Ten opponent Maryland instead, spurning in-state schools Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Glad to say Im part of the terps family @CoachLocks @ZSpavital @Latrell__Scott @Rivals @Coach_D_Moody pic.twitter.com/hWaEjfkEaR
— Messiah Delhomme (@DelhommeMessiah) August 11, 2024
Ohio State could have likely landed Delhomme if it pushed hard for him, but the Buckeyes are still waiting to see if it can flip Trey McNutt this fall. If it isn’t, OSU will likely look to add a safety in the transfer portal next offseason.
Jontae Gilbert commits to Georgia
Here’s a fun trivia question you can ask your friends later: Who was the very first 2025 recruit to commit to Ohio State? Most guesses for the casual recruiting fan would probably fall to Tavien St. Clair, but it was actually four-star Georgia cornerback Jontae Gilbert, who committed to the Buckeyes when he was just a sophomore. He decommitted exactly one year later, which wasn’t exactly shocking to OSU at the time.
Since then, his recruitment had plenty of twists and turns. North Carolina State was the clubhouse leader for the majority of the past few months, but Georgia stepped in and made a late push, which worked wonders on the hometown product. Gilbert ended his recruitment on Saturday, committing to the Bulldogs over NC State, Georgia Tech and UCF.
Crib talk lets work #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/hWLbPSHHfI
— Jontae Gilbert (@J7ontaeGilbert) August 10, 2024
ICYMI
A couple of big news items in the OSU recruiting world dropped on Monday.
First, the Buckeyes got some expected unfortunate news, as Josh Petty committed to Georgia Tech, opting to stay home over attending Florida State or OSU. The loss of Petty makes the pursuit of Sanders on Saturday all the more critical.
Secondly, five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair became the No. 1 player in the country per Rivals’ class of 2025 rankings. St. Clair has long been a consensus top-15 player in all four national recruiting rankings, but now he’s broken through and earned a No. 1 spot for himself. If he has a standout senior season, he may earn the No. 1 spot in the composite, which would give OSU the No. 1 overall player in the country for two straight cycles after landing Jeremiah Smith in the 2024 class.
