The Buckeyes saw five-star targets Bralan Womack and Jackson Cantwell set commitment dates.
The Ohio State football team, led by head coach Ryan Day, had a busy start to the week as the team traveled to the nation’s capital to be honored for winning the newly-expanded College Playoff National Championship.
Many of Monday’s headlines surrounding Ohio State focused on the trip to D.C., and rightfully so. However, the Buckeyes also found a way to make some major recruiting headlines on Monday as well.
Ohio State saw two elite targets in the 2026 recruiting cycle announce commitment dates as well as narrowing down their top schools. The Buckeyes are off to a hot start with their recruiting class this cycle, holding verbal commitments from 10 of the nation’s top prospects. The class is highlighted by five-star WR Chris Henry Jr. and highly-rated safety Blaine Bradford, and the Buckeyes are hoping to soon add to this haul.
Five-star safety Bralan Womack (Flowood, MS / Hartfield Academy) was the first to set a commitment date on Monday, and the blue-chip prospect will announce his school of choice this summer on Aug. 23.
August 23rd https://t.co/mSVybtGnjT
— Bralan Womack (@B_Mack02) April 14, 2025
Womack also announced his finalists which include Auburn, Florida Texas A&M and Ohio State. Of the four finalists, no school has separated itself from the pack but that could change in a couple months.
Womack has official visits scheduled this summer with all four of his finalists. Florida will receive his first visit on May 30 and the following weekend he will travel to Texas A&M. He will then officially visit with Auburn and his final visit will be with Ohio State on June 20.
Ohio State has a legitimate chance to land Womack, and having the benefit of hosting him on his final visit could give them that additional boost they are needing to separate themselves from the other finalists.
Womack is the No. 2 safety in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and he is the No. 26 overall prospect. He is also the No. 2 recruit out of Mississippi.
The next Ohio State target to set a commitment date Monday was five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (Nixa, MO / Nixa), who will be announcing his school of choice in just a couple weeks on April 30.
BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT Jackson Cantwell will announce his Commitment on April 30th, he tells me for @on3recruits
The No. 1 Recruit in the Nation will choose between Georgia, Miami, Oregon, & Ohio State
Will now take his OV to Oregon April 26-27https://t.co/5y15Hop09Q pic.twitter.com/cJCF3Z9Ujz
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 14, 2025
Similar to Womack, Cantwell has a group of four finalists that he will be choosing between. Those finalists are Miami, Georgia, Oregon and Ohio State. The Buckeyes are much less likely to be the winners in this one when compared to Womack, as Miami was the early favorite but momentum has shifted in favor of Oregon this spring.
Prior to the announcement, he had multiple official visits scheduled with Miami, Missouri, Georgia, Michigan and Oregon, with Miami having the first shot on May 9. However, alongside his commitment date announcement, it was also announced his official visit to Oregon would now take place April 26-27.
With his commitment date being just days following his newly-scheduled official visit with The Ducks, it is definitely looking like they are the favorites in this. While there are no guarantees with college football recruiting, if he were to commit anywhere else than Oregon it would be a surprise.
Cantwell is the No. 1 OT in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and he is also the No. 1 overall recruit. He is also the No. 1 recruit out of Missouri.