You can’t get them all in college football recruiting and that goes for the ones even in your state. Ohio State lived that reality yesterday when they saw pass rusher Justin Hill commit to Alabama.
It wasn’t as big of a loss for the Buckeyes as it could be if it was a more important position. Ohio State was recruiting Hill to play the JACK position and he’s the only guy from this class that they were recruiting for it. So, they’ll continue to try to flip him until signing day and will leave empty-handed if they can’t.
Ohio State has a shot to land another premier player this weekend and it would be a much bigger get for than Hill. Five-star Texas linebacker Riley Pettijohn is announcing on July 6 with the Buckeyes as a finalist.
Texas has been seen as the favorite to land the 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker out of McKinney, Texas. However, the Buckeyes have firmly put themselves in the mix and are seen as the second option at worst, according to multiple reports. Pettijohn officially visited Columbus back on May 31. Throughout June, Pettijohn took visits to USC, Texas, and Texas A&M.
Ranked as the No. 4 linebacker and No. 31 overall player in the class of 2025, Pettijohn has over 30 programs around the country that want him. For Ohio State, putting Pettijohn next to Tarvos Alford in this class would be a huge win by getting two of the better linebackers in the class. The Buckeyes have four-star linebacker Eli Lee committed as well.
Linebacker coach James Laurinaitis was the primary recruiter of Hill and is the same with Pettijohn. Landing the elite linebacker after missing on Hill would certainly bring the vibes up.
Ohio State’s 2025 verbal commits
- QB Tavien St. Clair
- CB Devin Sanchez
- CB Na’eem Offord
- OT Carter Lowe
- LB Tarvos Alford
- RB Bo Jackson
- DE Zahir Mathis
- DL London Merritt
- TE Nate Roberts
- WR De’Zie Jones
- S DeShawn Stewart
- LB Eli Lee
- S Cody Haddad
- S Faheem Delane
- WR Quincy Porter
- RB Isaiah West
- WR Bodpegn Miller
- OL Jake Cook
- TE Brody Lennon
- DL Trajen Odom
- DL Maxwell Roy
Related: Ohio State takes big recruiting loss to Alabama by missing out on highly coveted recruit in own backyard
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