Gene Ross
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Ohio State makes top schools for pair of big time 2025 prospects
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Four-star 2025 LB Madden Faraimo | Blair Angulo, 247Sports
The Buckeyes made the short list for two top-100 prospects.
The Ohio State football team will be back on the field preparing for the 2024 season in about a week, but in the meantime the coaching staff is hard at work prepping for the future on the recruiting trail. The staff is seeing those efforts pay off, with a pair of top-100 prospects including the Buckeyes among their final schools over the weekend.
The first big name cut his list down on Friday, as four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo trimmed his offer sheet down from around 20 programs to just four remaining options, with Ohio State making the cut alongside Notre Dame, Oregon and USC.
Faraimo is one of the very best at his position in the country in this cycle, ranked as the No. 4 LB and No. 38 overall prospect in the 2025 class. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound California native put up big numbers in his junior season at J Serra Catholic, recording 101 tackles, five TFLs, two sacks and a forced fumble. Starting off as a safety before moving to linebacker, Faraimo was also one of the top baseball players in his age group prior to shifting his focus to football.
In talking to On3 about each of his four finalists, here is what he had to say about Ohio State:
“THE Ohio State offers an opportunity to be part of a football program that young players dream of. It feels surreal to imagine myself in a Buckeyes uniform. I know the opportunity at Ohio State stretches me from a character standpoint because I’d be further from family.”
Faraimo will be a big name to watch for newly minted position coach James Laurinaitis, as Ohio State will look to bring in at least three or four guys at the position in this cycle. As things currently stand, OSU is still heavily involved in a handful of other top prospects at the position, including Tarvos Alford, Riley Pettijohn and Miami commit Elijah Melendez.
The other big name to include the Buckeyes among his final contenders is four-star wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon. Making his announcement on Saturday night, the Texas native has trimmed his list of over 30 offers down to eight, with Ohio State making the cut alongside Florida, Florida State, SMU, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas and USC.
The No. 11 WR in the country, McCutcheon is also the No. 15 player out of Texas and the No. 87 overall prospect in the 2025 class per the 247Sports Composite. Following up a sophomore campaign wherein he was named Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2022, the 6-foot Lovejoy product hauled in 92 receptions for over 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Leopards.
With a spring visit to Ohio State scheduled for March 31, McCutcheon has talked highly of the Buckeyes in the past, and was high school teammates with current OSU linebacker, Payton Pierce.
“When he was at my school, it was almost every other day,” McCutcheon told Eleven Warriors of Pierce’s recruiting efforts trying to get him to Ohio State. “He always said if you want to go to a place, get the ball and be one of the best wide receivers, it’s Ohio State. It’ll be cool seeing him. I can’t wait to see how he’ll be doing in the spring.”
Of course, as a wide receiver McCutcheon’s primary recruiter has been none other than Brian Hartline, who took a trip down to Texas to visit the wideout earlier this year. With Hartline’s track record of success in producing NFL talent at the position, it’s not a shock that the Buckeyes are high in McCutcheon’s mind.
“[Ohio State] sits pretty high on my board, real high,” McCutcheon. “[I love] definitely knowing that I’ll be surrounded by great wide receivers. Just knowing that I can take part of their game and add it to my game and be surrounded by others and become the best version of myself.”
In addition to a trip to Columbus, McCutcheon also currently has spring visits planned with Texas (March 22), USC (April 5), Florida State (April 12) and Stanford (April 18).
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Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Four-star 2025 LB Madden Faraimo | Blair Angulo, 247Sports
The Buckeyes made the short list for two top-100 prospects.
The Ohio State football team will be back on the field preparing for the 2024 season in about a week, but in the meantime the coaching staff is hard at work prepping for the future on the recruiting trail. The staff is seeing those efforts pay off, with a pair of top-100 prospects including the Buckeyes among their final schools over the weekend.
The first big name cut his list down on Friday, as four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo trimmed his offer sheet down from around 20 programs to just four remaining options, with Ohio State making the cut alongside Notre Dame, Oregon and USC.
NEWS: Four-Star LB Madden Faraimo is down toSchools!
The 6’3 235 LB from San Diego, CA is ranked as a Top 65 Recruit in the ‘25 Class
Where Should He Go? https://t.co/Nz3AQhFODx pic.twitter.com/iNPFcfGspW
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 23, 2024
Faraimo is one of the very best at his position in the country in this cycle, ranked as the No. 4 LB and No. 38 overall prospect in the 2025 class. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound California native put up big numbers in his junior season at J Serra Catholic, recording 101 tackles, five TFLs, two sacks and a forced fumble. Starting off as a safety before moving to linebacker, Faraimo was also one of the top baseball players in his age group prior to shifting his focus to football.
In talking to On3 about each of his four finalists, here is what he had to say about Ohio State:
“THE Ohio State offers an opportunity to be part of a football program that young players dream of. It feels surreal to imagine myself in a Buckeyes uniform. I know the opportunity at Ohio State stretches me from a character standpoint because I’d be further from family.”
Faraimo will be a big name to watch for newly minted position coach James Laurinaitis, as Ohio State will look to bring in at least three or four guys at the position in this cycle. As things currently stand, OSU is still heavily involved in a handful of other top prospects at the position, including Tarvos Alford, Riley Pettijohn and Miami commit Elijah Melendez.
The other big name to include the Buckeyes among his final contenders is four-star wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon. Making his announcement on Saturday night, the Texas native has trimmed his list of over 30 offers down to eight, with Ohio State making the cut alongside Florida, Florida State, SMU, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas and USC.
NEWS: Four-Star WR Daylan McCutcheon is down toSchools!
The 6’0 175 WR from Lucas, TX is ranked as a Top 95 Recruit in the ‘25 Class per On3
Where Should He Go? https://t.co/dTjShm1SH2 pic.twitter.com/2eCozOKmKr
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 24, 2024
The No. 11 WR in the country, McCutcheon is also the No. 15 player out of Texas and the No. 87 overall prospect in the 2025 class per the 247Sports Composite. Following up a sophomore campaign wherein he was named Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2022, the 6-foot Lovejoy product hauled in 92 receptions for over 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Leopards.
With a spring visit to Ohio State scheduled for March 31, McCutcheon has talked highly of the Buckeyes in the past, and was high school teammates with current OSU linebacker, Payton Pierce.
“When he was at my school, it was almost every other day,” McCutcheon told Eleven Warriors of Pierce’s recruiting efforts trying to get him to Ohio State. “He always said if you want to go to a place, get the ball and be one of the best wide receivers, it’s Ohio State. It’ll be cool seeing him. I can’t wait to see how he’ll be doing in the spring.”
Of course, as a wide receiver McCutcheon’s primary recruiter has been none other than Brian Hartline, who took a trip down to Texas to visit the wideout earlier this year. With Hartline’s track record of success in producing NFL talent at the position, it’s not a shock that the Buckeyes are high in McCutcheon’s mind.
“[Ohio State] sits pretty high on my board, real high,” McCutcheon. “[I love] definitely knowing that I’ll be surrounded by great wide receivers. Just knowing that I can take part of their game and add it to my game and be surrounded by others and become the best version of myself.”
In addition to a trip to Columbus, McCutcheon also currently has spring visits planned with Texas (March 22), USC (April 5), Florida State (April 12) and Stanford (April 18).
Quick Hits
- The aforementioned Hartline has seemingly been able to land nearly every prospect he has wanted over the last few recruiting classes, and a guy he definitely wants is five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench. The Ohio State position coach never backed off his pursuit of Ffrench even after the Florida native committed to Alabama, and having since de-committed from the Tide after Nick Saban's retirement, getting the nation’s No. 3 WR in 2025 on campus will be a big step towards swaying him up north.
5-star WR Jaime Ffrench has scheduled spring visits to LSU, Ohio State, Texas and Tennessee, he tells @ChadSimmons_
Read: https://t.co/TYAq2LDSzo pic.twitter.com/HpRuaARUzf
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) February 24, 2024
- On Sunday night, yet another player listed Ohio State among his top schools. Taz Williams Jr., a four star wide receiver out of Texas, included the Buckeyes in his top-10. With a loaded offer sheet of over 50 programs, the No. 29 WR and No. 244 player overall in the 2025 class is clearly a highly sought after prospect, and Ohio State making the cut is another reflection of kids’ respect for Hartline. Williams Jr. caught 80 passes for over 1,250 yards and 14 TDs as a junior.
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