The Hurry-Up: Four-star 2026 DE Jake Kreul Visiting Ohio State Monday, Social Media Reaction to Maxwell Riley's Commitment, Kaden Gebhardt Commits to Clemson

By Garrick Hodge on March 12, 2025 at 5:30 pm
Jake Kreul
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A top Ohio State defensive end target will be on campus next week.

Per 247Sports, four-star Florida defensive end Jake Kreul will be at Ohio State on Monday when the Buckeyes begin spring football practice. Kreul is considered the No. 37 prospect and the No. 5 edge player in the 2026 class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. He visited OSU in November for the Michigan game and picked up his offer from the Buckeyes in June at a recruiting camp.

In his junior season, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Kreul recorded 39 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and 11 quarterback hits.

Social media reaction to Maxwell Riley’s commitment

In case you missed it on Monday, Tyler Bowen got off to a terrific start on the recruiting trail by landing four-star Ohio offensive tackle Maxwell Riley. Riley chose the Buckeyes over Clemson and now will be one of the stronger peer recruiters for Ohio State going forward in the 2026 cycle. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Riley is ranked the No. 114 player and No. 9 offensive tackle in his recruiting class.

Following his commitment to Ohio State, several fellow commits and Ohio State staffers reacted on social media. We’ve compiled a few of their reactions below.

Kaden Gebhardt commits to Clemson

Frankly, it seems like Riley was one of the few recruits that didn’t pick Clemson within the past week. The Tigers have been on a roll on the recruiting trail, landing seven commitments within the last five days. Two of them were Ohio State targets, including offensive tackle Adam Guthrie and safety Kaden Gebhardt. Gebhardt pulled the trigger on Tuesday and now will begin his collegiate career in Clemson despite growing up in Columbus. 

Though Gebhardt opted to go to Clemson, the Buckeyes still have plenty of intriguing options at safety for 2026, including Simeon Caldwell, Bralan Womack, Blaine Bradford and several others.

Elbert Hill sets his official visits

Five-star Ohio cornerback Elbert Hill has set up his official visits for this summer, and none of them are Ohio State to this point. Hill plans to visit LSU, USC, Oregon and Alabama this summer. Though the Buckeyes don’t have an official visit set up at this point, it’s probably too premature to write them off from this recruitment.

Hill and his family have been to Columbus numerous times within the past few months and will probably return again this spring for a visit. If things go well on that trip, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an official visit to Columbus get added.

Bralan Womack taking official visit on June 20

Five-star Mississippi safety Bralan Womack, one of the Buckeyes’ top targets for the 2026 cycle, has announced he’ll take his official visit to OSU on June 20. He’ll also visit Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M.

Womack visited Ohio State in the summer for a recruiting camp and in the fall for a gameday visit. He picked up his offer in June following a terrific performance at the camp.

“The way they develop and produce players to help them get to the NFL,” Womack told Eleven Warriors in June about what he likes the most about Ohio State. “But not only produce players, they keep them in the NFL. Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward, Jeff Okudah, Eli Apple, Malcolm Jenkins. Those are all guys playing like six-plus years, more than the average NFL career.”

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