Sam Hart will continue his college football career in his home state.
On Friday, the former Ohio State tight end announced his commitment to Colorado and coach Deion Sanders. Hart will spend his final two college seasons in Boulder, located 31 miles from his hometown of Aurora.
Comin home #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/PmCnjyg0Yu
— Sam Hart (@sam_hart82) March 15, 2024
When Hart entered the transfer portal on Jan. 16, he expressed his gratitude to Ohio State football and Buckeye Nation for its support over the past three years.
"I would like to thank my teammates for the friendships and the memories, and the coaches for giving me the opportunity of playing here,” he wrote.
A four-star recruit in the 2021 class, Hart chose Ohio State over LSU, Notre Dame, Michigan and Texas, among other schools. He was ranked as the No. 388 overall prospect and No. 15 tight end in 2021, according to the 247Sports composite.
Hart started his Ohio State career with a redshirt season in 2021. In the next two years, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end was stuck behind several players in the Buckeyes' tight end room, including Cade Stover, Gee Scott Jr. and Joe Royer. Mitch Rossi also received snaps ahead of Hart in 2022, and the same was true for Patrick Gurd and Jelani Thurman in 2023.
Scott, Thurman, and Bennett Christian – who was suspended for 2023 after he tested positive for a banned substance last offseason – will return to Ohio State next year. The Buckeyes also added four-star prospects Max LeBlanc and Damarion Witten in the 2024 class and landed Ohio transfer Will Kacmarek on Dec. 31. With those six scholarship players in the room, Hart had no guarantee his role would increase next season or in the future.
At Colorado, Hart will join a tight end room with four players: Redshirt juniors Louis Passarello and Eli Yelverton, redshirt senior Sav'ell Smalls and senior Chamon Metayer, a transfer from Cincinnati.
