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Former USC linebacker Palaie Gaoteote has arrived in Columbus
It appears as if Palaie Gaoteote is on his way to becoming an Ohio State Buckeye.
On Friday, BuckeyeGrove was the first to report that the name “Palaie Gaoteote” popped up as an enrolled student on The Ohio State University’s student directory. Even though we immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was the transfer linebacker from USC, and rightfully so, we wanted to get further confirmation.
I spoke with his uncle, Gregory, that night, and had it confirmed that Gaoteote did indeed enroll at Ohio State. Thus far, however, we have not been able to confirm through the Buckeyes football program that he has transferred and will be on the team this year.
It's worth noting that things are starting to pick up when it comes to Gaoteote’s activity on social media. On his Instagram story, Gaoteote has posted photos of him departing from an airport and arriving in Columbus a few hours later. Haskell Garrett, who is one of his cousins, posted a picture of them with the caption, “The Young Bull Has Arrived.”
While we are still waiting on official confirmation from Ohio State, it’s safe to say Gaoteote will be strapping up the pads in the Scarlet and Gray this upcoming season.
This is a significant pickup for a Buckeyes program that needed a linebacker via the transfer portal in the spring. After striking out on Henry To’oto’o, Ohio State knew they had to get Gaoteote on board given their losses at the position group from a season ago and the fact that they signed just one true linebacker – Reid Carrico – in the 2021 class.
We’ll get into position fit and more of an in-depth analysis when this is official, but the biggest concern here will be the injuries Gaoteote has suffered. He’s already had pre-season knee cartilage surgery, a sprained ankle and a concussion in his three seasons at USC. I don’t think there’s anything here that should have Ohio State too concerned about his durability for the future, but his injury history is noteworthy.
If you all have any more questions about Gaoteote, just let us know down below and we will answer them.
Expecting the Buckeyes to land Rivals250 RB Dallan Hayden
I submitted a FutureCast on Dallan Hayden’s profile in favor of Ohio State back on May 30, and I feel just as strong about that prediction as the day I submitted it.
This is due to how well I heard Hayden’s visit to Columbus went this past weekend. Hayden’s official to the school marked his second trip to Ohio State this year, but the Buckeyes’ coaching staff took the most recent visit to another level.
More specifically, Tony Alford was heavily involved and around Hayden the entire weekend, and Hayden and his family were impressed by their overall presentation.
I was a little nervous about my Ohio State pick a few days ago as I heard Hayden's official visit to Notre Dame went well. The coaching staff felt confident in how the trip went, and thought they put themselves in position to pull off the upset.
From what I heard behind the scenes, however, it seems like the Buckeyes reminded Hayden why they have been the program to beat in his recruitment for several months. As such, I believe a commitment to Ohio State could arrive in the near future.
I do not know when he will announce his decision, but I’ve been told not to be surprised if Hayden pulls the trigger as early as this week. This makes sense as Hayden said before the official that he knows where he will stand in his recruitment following the end of the visit.
Hayden will be the lead back in this class, but I’m very interested in seeing what Alford and company do following his commitment (assuming he ends up a Buckeye). They are looking at Gavin Sawchuk and Omarion Hampton as well, but Ohio State may also turn to in-state recruit Kaleb Johnson and offer him if things don’t pan out with those pair of prospects.
They could also circle back to some recruits like Emeka Megwa, Kaytron Allen or Terrance Gibbs. Megwa is supposed to work out in front of Alford this week, so that will be worth paying attention to.
Feeling stronger about my J.T. Tuimoloau pick
One of the biggest mysteries in my time covering recruiting has been J.T. Tuimoloau’s recruitment. Visits being shut down due to the pandemic, coupled with how little information he reveals to the media, made his recruitment one of the hardest to get a read on for most analysts.
With Tuimoloau now taking his officials, however, we’re starting to get somewhat of a clearer picture on how he's feeling about some of his top options. And, based on his most recent visit to Ohio State, I’m feeling a little more confident in my pick that the program will add him to their 2021 class.
Tuimoloau’s uncle, Kenny, told me that from his conversations with the family, he heard everything went well. He said that everything he has heard thus far about the trip has been that it was described as “awesome,” and he’ll be following up with them again later tonight.
It also appears as if Tuimoloau enjoyed the warm reception he received from the staff when his plane landed at John Glenn International on Thursday.
I also heard that Tuimoloau was hinting at the possibility of him joining forces with the Buckeyes while he was in Columbus, but that nothing was set in stone. He’s still taking officials to Oregon and Alabama, and I’ve been told to keep an eye on the Alabama visit as they’re viewed as tOSU’s biggest threat here.
For right now, my confidence percentage in my FutureCast is at about 60-65 percent. The main reason for this is that the Crimson Tide have yet to host him on campus, and it’s hard to say anything is for certain in a recruiting battle that has Nick Saban involved.
Ohio State feels good about their chances following this official, but we’ll learn a lot more once he gets down to Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Note: Some people have also brought to my attention that true freshman defensive end Jack Sawyer appears to have changed his number to 40, which can be seen in a photo of him at practice. This could be significant news as his previous number is 33, the number Tuimoloau wore in high school.
I’m still waiting on official confirmation here as I don’t want to rush to any conclusions. After all, this number was retired in honor of Howard “Hopalong” Cassidy, and this could easily be Sawyer’s number that is only for practice as it was the one he wore in high school.
If we’re assuming this was done as a result of how the staff felt about Tuimoloau’s visit, then that means they got permission to unretire the number, changed it, and had it ready for Sawyer in roughly the span of 24 hours. I am a little skeptical just because of how fast everything developed, but if this had any connection to Tuimoloau’s visit, then that is as good of a development as any Ohio State fan could have hoped for.
What I heard regarding Kojo Antwi’s official visit
While I did not get to speak with him after his Ohio State official visit, there were a couple of noteworthy things I heard about Kojo Antwi following this trip.
First of all, Antwi seemed to be taken aback by the number of quality wide receivers that Brian Hartline has in his position group. The level of competition he saw from them during workouts and training this past weekend made a strong impression.
This actually lines up with what Antwi told us a couple of months ago. The Rivals250 wideout said that the better the competition is, the more opportunities a player like himself would have to improve. So, while Ohio State has this stacked receiver room, along with three commits at his position, I’ve been told that it won’t impact Antwi’s consideration of the Buckeyes.
I also heard that this one appears to be coming down to Ohio State and the in-state Georgia Bulldogs. For right now, however, I’m taking this one with a grain of salt.
We had heard a few weeks ago from another source that Antwi’s top two choices were Alabama and Ohio State, with Texas A&M also in the mix. Georgia was also being considered, but Kevin and I heard they weren’t as high as most had suspected.
Now, it’s very possible that after trips to these schools, Antwi is starting to get a clearer picture of where he stands with each of them, and that the Buckeyes and Bulldogs are separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Recruiting is a very fluid process that can turn in any direction, so I wouldn’t rule this out.
My overall takeaway, however, is that we have heard from two different sources, at two different points in time over the past couple of months, that Ohio State is in the discussion of Antwi’s top two schools. I would still be surprised if the Buckeyes manage to pull this one off, but I think it would be foolish to count out Hartline and company in their pursuit of an elite receiver.
I am leaning toward the SEC (most likely Georgia) for right now, though a lot can change between now and Antwi’s commitment on July 5.
A couple of noteworthy canceled official visits
As telling as scheduled official visits can be, I am always interested in seeing the ones that are penciled in, but later canceled. From my experience, these could be an indication as to where a program believes they stand with players at a certain position group.
Today, Rivals250 safety Kamari Ramsey was supposed to step foot on campus for his official visit. As you all may know by now, however, that is not going to happen.
Ramsey and I exchanged messages earlier today, and he told me that Ohio State’s staff opted not to go through with this visit. He said that this was due to how many safeties they have on their roster, which is an interesting explanation.
I say this as Ramsey locked in this official visit, accompanied with a graphic sent to him by the Buckeyes, back in late April. The only change since then has been that four-star safety Kye Stokes committed to the school.
This is purely speculation, but I believe Ramsey’s canceled visit could be an indication as to how they view things are going in their pursuit of Xavier Nwankpa and Zion Branch. Following their trips to the school to start off the month, the Buckeyes may think there’s a good chance of landing both of these prospects.
After all, Branch is being eyed for that free safety/ “quarterback of the defense” role, while Nwankpa is being targeted for their “Bullet” position that is an outside linebacker/safety hybrid. They could absolutely fit both in without one’s commitment compromising the staff's pursuit of the other, and I think the Buckeyes are in the top two for Branch and are leading for Nwankpa.
With this being the case, it is understandable that they have stopped their pursuit of Ramsey, who previously had Ohio State in his top five. Also, worth mentioning is that Orlando-based prospect Markeith Williams has canceled his upcoming official to the school as well, so the Buckeyes’ safety board is starting to narrow quickly.
Unless Ohio State ends up offering another safety or two, I think there should be reason for optimism that they may land both Branch and Nwankpa in this 2022 class.
