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Tuimoloau teams up with Ohio State
The big day finally arrived.
Over 14 months after the first FutureCast was put in for Ohio State, J.T. Tuimoloau announced his commitment to the Buckeyes earlier today. With Tuimoloau on board, tOSU’s 2021 class will feature a pair of five-star defensive ends as well as the top-two players from the state of Washington.
This is a huge get for the Buckeyes, but I want to first start off by talking about what led to Tuimoloau joining forces with Ryan Day’s program.
While on CBSSports HQ this afternoon, Tuimoloau said that Ohio State “felt like home” when he took his official visit to Columbus a couple of weeks ago. Tuimoloau also said that defensive line coach Larry Johnson played an important role in his decision as he believes that Johnson can develop him both as a player and a person.
The Buckeyes admittedly had a lot of hurdles they had to overcome in order to win out for Tuimoloau. They had to deal with being the only school he had yet to visit until last month, an unprecedented dead period allowing Tuimoloau to stay close to home and be with his family members, and Ohio State being the farthest school from home than any of his other three finalists.
What they had that other colleges did not, however, is Johnson. Johnson’s proven history of developing pass rushers like Chase Young, Joey Bosa and Nick Bosa makes his resume desirable for coveted pass rushers like Tuimoloau and future teammate Jack Sawyer.
Another thing about Johnson that is appealing is that he is willing to rotate his defensive linemen in and out frequently, so early playing time is not out of the question. Tuimoloau’s uncle, Doc Aukuso, actually told me a few months ago that an opportunity to make an immediate impact would influence his decision.
Overall, Tuimoloau viewed Ohio State as a school he could spend the next three-to-four years at, and he felt that Johnson would be able to develop him the best and maximize his skill set before he heads off for the NFL.
What can get interesting, however, is that football may not be the only sport he plays at the next level. In a commitment edit that was made by Hayes Fawcett for Tuimoloau, there was a photo of him in an Ohio State basketball uniform from when he visited a couple of weekends ago.
That means that for a portion of his visit, Tuimoloau likely spent time around Chris Holtmann’s staff. We’ve been told beforehand that the opportunity to play both sports was one that they were going to give Tuimoloau if he chose the Buckeyes. Tuimoloau’s other uncle, Kenny Aukuso, also told me a couple of hours ago that this is an option Ohio State is giving him, but we’re not too sure yet if he will take advantage of it.
This is one of the biggest football recruiting wins for the Buckeyes in program history. Tuimoloau is an elite prospect that is one of their highest-ranked signees ever, will continue the stellar resume Johnson has put together, and demonstrates once again that Ohio State is recruiting on a level that is probably only comparable to what Alabama is doing right now.
Be sure to share your thoughts down below on what you make of this massive victory for Day and his staff.
Buckeyes gaining momentum for Rivals250 WR Kojo Antwi
After landing five-star DE J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State could receive even more good news in less than 24 hours.
Kojo Antwi, the No. 23 wide receiver on Rivals.com, is slated to announce his college decision tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. EST. Antwi’s five finalists are Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas A&M and USC.
Even with a trio of pass catchers committed in their 2022 class, the Buckeyes have surged high in Antwi’s recruitment over the past couple of weeks. In fact, most of the FutureCast predictions on his profile have gone from Georgia or Texas A&M to Ohio State. Seven of the nine FutureCasts for Antwi, including one I submitted this morning, are in favor of the program.
To be honest, this is one that I did not see coming. Once the Buckeyes added Kaleb Brown to go alongside Caleb Burton and Kyion Grayes, my best guess was that a fourth wideout in this class would have been someone like Kevin Thomas or Landon Samson; not as highly recruited, but a solid addition to along with the talent they already added to this class.
From what I’ve been told, Antwi’s official visit to Columbus June 18-20 is what turned the tide here. Antwi came away impressed by the level of competition in Ohio State’s wide receiver room, and is very intrigued by the opportunity of going up against the best of the best every day in practice.
The Peach State product also spent a lot of time around five-star linebacker C.J. Hicks, who emphasized the potential of this 2022 class to win multiple championships. Antwi bought into this message and, coupled with the interest he has in playing for Brian Hartline, he sees a path for him succeeding as a player and being a part of a perennial championship contender as well.
Nothing is a guarantee in the world of recruiting, but I feel strongly about this pick. Even though he’s close by to the in-state Georgia Bulldogs (he lives roughly an hour away from the school) and he has a lot of family in the Houston area about an hour and a half south of Texas A&M, Ohio State has seemingly separated themselves from the pack in recent weeks.
Assuming Antwi joins the class tomorrow, then the Buckeyes will essentially be done with recruiting at most position groups on offense in this class. They’ll be done with pursuing quarterbacks (Quinn Ewers), running back (Dallan Hayden), tight ends (Bennett Christian and Benji Gosnell) and wide receivers (Antwi, Brown, Burton and Grayes).
The only position group left on offense for work to be done at in this cycle is offensive line, and we have a small but significant update on one of their targets in the next section.
OSU trending for another o-line target?
As our Carson MacRae reported earlier this week, Ohio State has put themselves in a good position with five-star offensive tackle Kam Dewberry after his official visit to the school the final weekend of June.
MacRae spoke with a source that said Dewberry was thrilled with the Buckeyes following this trip. MacRae, along with our Kevin Noon, have now submitted FutureCasts in favor of the program.
Along with trending for Dewberry, I’m hearing that Ohio State has put themselves in a great spot with four-star offensive lineman George Fitzpatrick. The Greenwood Village (Colorado) recruit officially visited the program the first weekend of the month, and has the Buckeyes as one of his five finalists.
We’re told that Ohio State could actually be as high as No. 1 on his board, but it’s unknown as to when he will make his decision. Fitzpatrick did tell us following his visit, however, that he may end up committing this month, with no decision date set in stone at this time.
I’m not surprised that the Buckeyes could possibly be his leader as Fitzpatrick was very high on them once his OV was wrapped up. Fitzpatrick told us that what stood out to him the most during the visit was that the coaching staff wants him to succeed both on and off the field.
The 6-foot-6, 265-pounder is also drawn to Greg Studrawa’s resume and the opportunities for development under his tutelage. Tony Alford, who attended college in Colorado, has also played an important role in Ohio State’s pursuit of Fitzpatrick, and spent a lot of time around him and his family last month.
Fitzpatrick also had the following to say when discussing why the Buckeyes are in his top five.
"I would just say consistently putting dudes into the NFL," Fitzpatrick previously told BuckeyeGrove. "There's a ton of factors that go into it, but the people there, the coaching staff is really good, and they don't move too much in terms of new hires over the next few years. There's definitely some stability there. The numbers speak for themselves and how they develop guys. Also, it would be great to compete for national championships because I'm really competitive."
I’m not ready to put in a FutureCast just yet, but we’re going to pay close attention to Fitzpatrick’s recruitment over these next few weeks.
Updates on a pair of safeties out of Buford (Georgia)
Switching back over to recruiting on the defensive side of the ball, Ohio State is still hoping to strike gold yet again in the secondary.
With cornerback recruiting wrapped up (for now), the Buckeyes will focus their attention on the safety position. Along with going all in for Xavier Nwankpa and Zion Branch, three-star prospect Jake Pope remains a target for Kerry Coombs and Matt Barnes.
On Saturday, Pope revealed that he will be silently committing either this weekend or the beginning of next week, and that a decision will be publicly revealed soon. I caught up with him recently, and he said that he’s aiming to post a video at the end of July.
His five finalists are Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Ohio State. The Tar Heels and Fighting Irish are the programs that appear to be in the best position to land him but, after seeing what the Buckeyes did with Terrance Brooks recently, I won’t completely rule them out just yet.
Pope told me that he enjoyed his official to Columbus a couple of weeks ago, and said it was “absolutely crazy” when describing Barnes’ knowledge of the game. He was told that there are two or three safety spots Ohio State would consider using him at, and that he could end up returning punts as well.
The product of Buford (Georgia) also informed me that Kye Stokes being committed, as well as the Buckeyes’ pursuit of Branch and Nwankpa, won’t affect his consideration of the program.
I’ll have a full story on him either tomorrow or Tuesday, but I wanted to drop this along since Pope revealed yesterday that he will be committing soon.
I also wanted to put this in today’s Skull Session as I recently heard something about one of Pope’s teammates. This is a small note and I’m still following up on it, but Michigan State pledge Malik Spencer informed me this week that he has been in touch with the coaching staff.
Spencer has yet to visit the school, and it’s not quite clear if an offer is imminent. What is clear, however, is that the 2022 safety is on the program’s radar, and could potentially be an option if they feel like some of their other targets are trending elsewhere.
We’ll be keeping close tabs on Spencer’s recruitment and his contact with Day’s staff.
