Zen Michalski is staying in the Big Ten and returning to his home state.
The Ohio State offensive tackle is transferring to Indiana, according to multiple reports.
Ohio State left tackle Zen Michalski has signed with Indiana, @On3sports has learned. https://t.co/VxSGJEUisH pic.twitter.com/mNjnI4xwHF
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) January 4, 2025
A native of Floyds Knobs, Indiana, Michalski has one more year of collegiate eligibility after four seasons at Ohio State.
Michalski was a backup for most of his four seasons with the Buckeyes, making his only career start this season against Nebraska. An injury suffered in the fourth quarter of that game sidelined him for the rest of the regular season, however, and he was projected to remain a backup in 2025 following the transfer additions of Phillip Daniels and Ethan Onianwa.
Michalski remains with the Buckeyes for their College Football Playoff run, but told Eleven Warriors at Monday’s Rose Bowl media day that he felt he had to enter the portal to explore his options with only one year of college football left to play.
“I didn't want to leave this behind. I didn’t want to leave an opportunity like this just out there. But I did want to explore my options just so that I know I have a plan,” Michalski said. “Just with like, how stuff lines up with schedules now, it just is what it is until they fix it, until they put some more stripes on it, I feel like a lot of kids are doing that you see now. So it was just the best decision for me and I didn't want to abandon my team.”
Michalski will be a candidate to replace outgoing senior Trey Wedig as Indiana’s starting right tackle next season.
He’ll leave Ohio State having appeared in 35 games as a Buckeye and with a degree in sport industry after graduating from the university earlier this month.
“I feel like in terms of the transfer portal today, I feel like I did it the right way. I stayed for four years, graduated,” Michalski said Monday. “I'm not the type of guy that just bounces around like that, so it was a lot of thought for me to just make that decision, a lot went into it and I'm happy with it.”
