Ohio State Buckeyes make a significant commitment to rebound from recent recruitment setbacks.
There have been very few misses for Ohio State’s Ryan Day on the recruiting trail, but this past week had been a rough one for the Buckeyes head coach. In the last week, Ohio State has narrowly missed out on signing top-100 linebacker Justin Hill (Alabama) and #1 wide receiver Dakorien Moore (Oregon), but the Buckeyes got some good news on Saturday afternoon with the commitment of 4-star McKinney, Texas linebacker Riley Pettijohn, the #48 recruit in the class of 2025 according to the ESPN 300.
With nearly thirty Power 4 offers to choose from, Riley Pettijohn narrowed his choices down to four schools — Ohio State, USC, Texas and Texas A&M — and visited each of those schools before making his decision. The versatile linebacker, who has experience playing both on the edge and in the middle of the defense, ultimately chose the Buckeyes, thanks in large part to the recruiting efforts ofOhio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and linebackers coach James Laurinaitis.
James Laurinaitis excelled at linebacker for Ohio State from 2005 to 2008, capturing Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice, and being named a Big Ten 1st-Team selection three times during his career. Now, just months after being named to Ryan Day’s staff, Laurinaitis has already played a key role in the recruitment of Tarvos Alford and Eli Lee, a pair of 4-star linebackers who will be joining Pettijohn on campus in 2025.
Leave a Reply