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Ohio State recruiting: Nation’s No. 1 OT puts Buckeyes in top schools
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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2025 OT David Sanders Jr. | Jim Hawkins, Inside Carolina/247Sports
The Buckeyes made the short list for a trio of elite prospects over the weekend.
Ohio State is set to kick off its spring practice schedule this week, and with it will come a laundry list of the nation’s top prospects making their way to Columbus for recruiting visits. Even before those begin, the Buckeyes have been maintaining a wave of positive momentum on the trail, and that continued this past weekend with a trio of big names including the program among their top schools.
Starting things off with a bang, Ohio State got big news on Saturday when it learned it made the cut for the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country. David Sanders Jr., the No. 2 player in the 2025 class overall, listed the Buckeyes among his final six schools, alongside Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The five-star North Carolina native is a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball and also competing in track and field in both the shot put and discus throws. It is no surprise the 6-foot-6, 270-pound Sanders has amassed over 40 scholarship offers to his name from all of the heavy hitters. Cutting that hefty offer sheet all the way down to just a half-dozen shows the Providence Day High School product is getting serious in his recruitment, and position coach Justin Frye has to be thrilled with this latest development.
Speaking to Rivals about his short list, here is what Sanders had to say about Ohio State making the cut:
“Obviously they’re such a far distance away,” Sanders said. “They call me on a regular basis and we’re building those relationships. Knowing that I’m a kid from down south with all these big SEC and ACC schools down here right in my backyard pretty much, they’ve done an amazing job. They’re known for making bookend tackles. Having that opportunity to be coached by the best and play the best each and every Saturday is something that really appeals to me.”
It sounds as though it’ll be a bit of an uphill battle for the Buckeyes, with distance playing a large factor in that climb. However, Frye and the Ohio State staff have done enough to this point to warrant them still being in the running even despite the geographic challenges, and so expect them to continue to press for Sanders with a rather large need at offensive tackle both on the current roster and moving forward.
Speaking of offensive linemen, Sanders wasn’t the only big blocker to include Ohio State among their top schools over the weekend. Heading a bit further south down to Florida, four-star interior OL Kaden Strayhorn listed the Buckeyes as one of his final 12 teams, making the list alongside Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, USC and others.
Strayhorn is the No. 20 IOL and the No. 380 player overall in the 2025 class. Hailing out of IMG Academy, the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder is originally from Detroit, so he has some ties to Big Ten country. Strayhorn played his freshman year at Detroit Catholic Central before making the move to the elite southern prep program. The Michigan native has further ties to the B1G, as he is a Michigan State legacy, with his father Jason spending his playing days with the Spartans.
Strayhorn has visits planned to Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and says he plans to visit both Ohio State and Miami as well. Before he can further narrow his list, the MaxPreps Preseason Sophomore All-American first-team selection told 247Sports what he is looking for at the next level:
“The culture of the program, who the the coaches are, how they develop the center position and interior offensive line, who they’ve sent to the NFL and how they coach and the type of offense they run. Who they play against also, like I think the Big Ten and SEC are the best but the only reason I wouldn’t go to either of those conferences is for Miami.”
Switching to the other side of the ball for our third and final bullet point in this section, Ohio State also made the top schools for a four-star linebacker in the 2025 class. The Texas native Elijah Barnes put the Buckeyes in his top 10 on Friday, alongside Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Texas, Oregon and others.
Barnes is the No. 14 LB and just outside the top-100 as the No. 106 player nationally, per the 247Sports Composite. After being named the Texas District 11-6A Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker put together a big season for Skyline High School as a junior. Barnes recorded 65 total tackles with 12 tackles for loss in 2023, adding three sacks and four interceptions to his numbers.
For Ohio State, it is impressive to make Barnes’ short list being that Barnes has never actually been to Columbus. In January, Buckeye coaches Ryan Day, James Laurinaitis (pre-promotion) and Jim Knowles all made a stop at Skyline to visit the talented LB, and shortly after Barnes made plans to visit Ohio State with a date set for March 22. With Laurinaitis now the full-time position coach and OSU already doing enough to this point for Barnes to include them among his final schools prior to a visit, that trip could prove to be an important one in this recruitment.
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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
2025 OT David Sanders Jr. | Jim Hawkins, Inside Carolina/247Sports
The Buckeyes made the short list for a trio of elite prospects over the weekend.
Ohio State is set to kick off its spring practice schedule this week, and with it will come a laundry list of the nation’s top prospects making their way to Columbus for recruiting visits. Even before those begin, the Buckeyes have been maintaining a wave of positive momentum on the trail, and that continued this past weekend with a trio of big names including the program among their top schools.
Starting things off with a bang, Ohio State got big news on Saturday when it learned it made the cut for the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country. David Sanders Jr., the No. 2 player in the 2025 class overall, listed the Buckeyes among his final six schools, alongside Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
TopOne step closer to home! pic.twitter.com/rrvex6zLiv
— David Sanders Jr. (@DavidLSandersJr) March 2, 2024
The five-star North Carolina native is a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball and also competing in track and field in both the shot put and discus throws. It is no surprise the 6-foot-6, 270-pound Sanders has amassed over 40 scholarship offers to his name from all of the heavy hitters. Cutting that hefty offer sheet all the way down to just a half-dozen shows the Providence Day High School product is getting serious in his recruitment, and position coach Justin Frye has to be thrilled with this latest development.
Speaking to Rivals about his short list, here is what Sanders had to say about Ohio State making the cut:
“Obviously they’re such a far distance away,” Sanders said. “They call me on a regular basis and we’re building those relationships. Knowing that I’m a kid from down south with all these big SEC and ACC schools down here right in my backyard pretty much, they’ve done an amazing job. They’re known for making bookend tackles. Having that opportunity to be coached by the best and play the best each and every Saturday is something that really appeals to me.”
It sounds as though it’ll be a bit of an uphill battle for the Buckeyes, with distance playing a large factor in that climb. However, Frye and the Ohio State staff have done enough to this point to warrant them still being in the running even despite the geographic challenges, and so expect them to continue to press for Sanders with a rather large need at offensive tackle both on the current roster and moving forward.
Speaking of offensive linemen, Sanders wasn’t the only big blocker to include Ohio State among their top schools over the weekend. Heading a bit further south down to Florida, four-star interior OL Kaden Strayhorn listed the Buckeyes as one of his final 12 teams, making the list alongside Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, USC and others.
Strayhorn is the No. 20 IOL and the No. 380 player overall in the 2025 class. Hailing out of IMG Academy, the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder is originally from Detroit, so he has some ties to Big Ten country. Strayhorn played his freshman year at Detroit Catholic Central before making the move to the elite southern prep program. The Michigan native has further ties to the B1G, as he is a Michigan State legacy, with his father Jason spending his playing days with the Spartans.
Strayhorn has visits planned to Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and says he plans to visit both Ohio State and Miami as well. Before he can further narrow his list, the MaxPreps Preseason Sophomore All-American first-team selection told 247Sports what he is looking for at the next level:
“The culture of the program, who the the coaches are, how they develop the center position and interior offensive line, who they’ve sent to the NFL and how they coach and the type of offense they run. Who they play against also, like I think the Big Ten and SEC are the best but the only reason I wouldn’t go to either of those conferences is for Miami.”
Switching to the other side of the ball for our third and final bullet point in this section, Ohio State also made the top schools for a four-star linebacker in the 2025 class. The Texas native Elijah Barnes put the Buckeyes in his top 10 on Friday, alongside Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Texas, Oregon and others.
Barnes is the No. 14 LB and just outside the top-100 as the No. 106 player nationally, per the 247Sports Composite. After being named the Texas District 11-6A Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker put together a big season for Skyline High School as a junior. Barnes recorded 65 total tackles with 12 tackles for loss in 2023, adding three sacks and four interceptions to his numbers.
For Ohio State, it is impressive to make Barnes’ short list being that Barnes has never actually been to Columbus. In January, Buckeye coaches Ryan Day, James Laurinaitis (pre-promotion) and Jim Knowles all made a stop at Skyline to visit the talented LB, and shortly after Barnes made plans to visit Ohio State with a date set for March 22. With Laurinaitis now the full-time position coach and OSU already doing enough to this point for Barnes to include them among his final schools prior to a visit, that trip could prove to be an important one in this recruitment.
Quick Hits
- While the focus right now is spring camp, Ohio State is also getting out ahead and filling up the calendar for the summer as well. This past weekend, it was announced that four-star running back Marquiss Davis will be making an official visit with the Buckeyes on June 7, in addition to looking to make an unofficial visit during the spring. An Ohio native, Davis is the No. 13 RB in the country in the 2025 class in addition to being the No. 170 player nationally and the seventh-best player in the state.
- Ohio State wide receiver commit Jayvan Boggs was turning some heads at the Under Armour Next camp over the weekend. Making his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes back in October, Boggs is rated as the No. 22 WR and the No. 187 player in the 2025 class, but it is expected that those numbers will continue to rise as we get closer to signing day. Boggs was named MVP of the event on Sunday as evidence of his potentially underrated skillset.
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