The Buckeyes are in on several big recruits, but will they close the deal on any of these priority targets?
A lot has happened since last week. Ohio State traveled down I-71 and took on the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats on Friday night and got clobbered, 80-62. The game didn’t count for anything, and if the Buckeyes were really trying to ensure victory, Bruce Thornton would’ve played more than 22 minutes and Austin Parks probably would not have been in the lineup to start the second half.
Still, we learned some things about the team, including some hints about what a hypothetical depth chart might look like.
Then on Tuesday, four-star center A’Mare Bynum committed to Ohio State. He visited in October, and despite being one of the final teams to offer him a scholarship, the Buckeyes swooped in and grabbed the commitment from the Omaha native over teams like Nebraska, LSU, and Colorado.
Last week, Connor and Justin each listed one thing they were going to pay attention to during Ohio State’s preseason game against Cincinnati. Connor said he was watching the big men to see is Ivan Njegovan or Austin Parks was ahead of the other. Justin was looking to see how John Mobley Jr. fared in his first collegiate action.
There was a four-way tie in the poll between the bigs, pace of play, defense, and the Bruce/Meechie combo, which means Justin and Juni were the least picked. Still, that’s a tie.
After 175 weeks:
Connor- 81
Justin- 71
Other- 18
(There have been five ties)
So Ohio State now has Bynum and Dorian Jones in their 2025 recruiting class, but Jake Diebler and his staff are reportedly trying to add one and maybe even two players to that group. Four players in particular — Jerry Easter, Darryn Peterson, Niko Bundalo, and Isaiah Denis — look like the “big targets” right now.
Two of those four have commitment dates scheduled, and the other two are expected to announce within the next few weeks. Will Ohio State get one of these guys, or will Diebler and his staff complement the roster in other ways?
This week’s question: Will Ohio State land any of these four priority targets?
Connor: No
Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK
Long story short, I don’t think Ohio State is going to wind up getting any of these guys. Where do the Buckeyes go from here, if that’s how it ends up? Well, in the transfer portal era, you don’t necessarily need to panic or pivot following a recruiting miss. Diebler and his staff could try to lock down another player in the 2026 class (hello, Anthony Thompson), or they could add an additional transfer or two next summer.
Here’s why I don’t think they’re going to get these four. Understand that neither myself or Justin are “insiders” or “scoopers” — we’re just giving our opinions and hunches here.
Darryn Peterson – Kansas has been the assumed spot for a long time, partially because of the Adidas deal. Ohio State probably ends up as the “second place” team here, and, despite what some Kansas folks say, really did have a chance. There are now two crystal balls on 247Sports for Peterson to go to Kansas.
Niko Bundalo – Ohio State taking Bynum more or less eliminates any chance of Bundalo coming to Columbus. They play the same position, and there are three basketball blue bloods pursuing him in addition to Ohio State. It would be a stunner if this one worked out.
Isaiah Denis – He is committing somewhere the first week of November, but North Carolina fans seem very confident that the four-star guard is headed to Chapel Hill. Wake Forest has been persistently recruiting him, and so has Ohio State. But if it comes down to North Carolina vs Ohio State, it’s tough to see the Buckeyes winning that battle.
Jerry Easter – If any of the four wind up in Columbus, Easter is the most likely one. He’s got family connections to Ohio State and Diebler has been recruiting him since before he was in high school. However, Easter had a great visit with SMU and new head coach Andy Enfield.
Easter is cut from a different cloth than a lot of elite prep players — he doesn’t seem too focused on going to a big school with a marketable brand. He also does not plan on cutting down a list of final schools. One day he’s just going to announce, kind of like Bynum did.
Justin: Yes
To save the reader some time, I won’t go over every recruit player by player like Connor did, because he did a good job, and I agree with three of the four. Peterson is going to Kansas, Bundalo is going to UConn and Denis is going somewhere — likely in North Carolina — but he isn’t heading to Columbus.
And that leaves one of the big four: Jerry Easter. The Toledo native and current star at Link Academy was a top priority under Chris Holtmann, and that interest stayed steady once Jake Diebler took the job.
So far, the Buckeyes have commitments from A’mare Bynum and Dorian Jones, two top-100 recruits who should see minutes right away in Columbus. If they could add Easter, that would be a top-50 recruit that will also add an immediate impact, especially since guards Meechie Johnson and Ques Glover will be gone.
Easter has already said he will commit when he is ready and not set a commitment date. As of right now, it doesn’t seem like he is leaning a specific way. He also just visited Columbus, which went very well.
I do think Ohio State will land one of the top guys they are going after, and Easter is the only one that they still have a reasonable chance at.