Midway through March and much of the talk around Columbus rightfully is focused on the Ohio State men’s basketball Buckeyes making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in years. The appearance is the first for both Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler and Ohio State new-leading scoring Bruce Thornton, and the Buckeyes drew TCU for their first game.
While March is and will always belong to college basketball, spring is also a busy time for the Ohio State football team. Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are
already in the thick of spring practices and are about a month away from the annual spring game.
Spring practices are crucial for the Ohio State coaching staff in determining the various position battles heading into the 2026-27 season. The Buckeyes brought in more new talent this year than in recent memory and because of this, this spring will be more important than most.
But spring practices are also big recruiting tools for the Buckeyes as the team is able to play host to numerous amounts of recruits at a time. These recruits get to spend time with the coaching staff and players but also get a firs-hand view of what it takes to be a Buckeye and the rewards that come along with that hard work.
Spring practices are already paying dividends for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes as multiple recruits are already higher on the team than they were just weeks ago thanks to these practices. One of those recruits that Ohio State is quickly gaining ground with is 2027 four-star wide receiver Khalil Taylor (Gibsonia, PA / Pine-Richland). Taylor visited with Ohio State last Thursday and it appears to have gone as well as possible.
Entering the visit, Taylor already had six official visits planned for this year with Indiana, Penn State, Georgia, Colorado, Nebraska and Syracuse all on the schedule. However, following the visit with the Buckeyes, Taylor is already planning on making changes in his official visit schedule to get Ohio State in there.
Taylor has not yet announced an upcoming visit with the Buckeyes but the fact that he already plans to alter his visit schedule to fit them in says a lot. Expect Ohio State to work with him to help ensure he is able to make a return visit with the Buckeyes this year, likely for a game day visit.
Ohio State already holds a commitment from five-star WR Jamier Brown in the 2027 cycle and is heavily involved in the recruitments of other elite WR prospects. Taylor is another blue-chip prospect Ohio State can be considered legitimate contenders for as this year’s Ohio State recruiting haul looks to have the promise of in year’s past.
Taylor is the No. 13 WR in the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 70 national recruit. He is also the No. 4 recruit out of Pennsylvania.
Taylor is not the only recruit Ohio State is gaining ground with following the start of spring practices as one of the nation’s top safety recruits also is much higher on the Buckeyes after visiting with the Buckeyes. 2027 four-star safety Jayden Aparicio-Bailey (Prattville, AL / Prattville) took a multi-day visit with the Buckeyes kicking off last Thursday and like Taylor’s it also looks to have gone as well as possible.
While Aparicio-Bailey may not be instantly altering his visit schedule to fit in Ohio State, that could be because he was already planning on doing so. The blue-chip safety already included Ohio State in his top ten schools back in February alongside Georgia, Florida, Clemson, Auburn, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas, Alabama and USC.
He has not yet made further cuts to the list and he likely will not do so until his unofficial visit schedule comes to a close. At that point he will likely cut his list down further and we will learn the schools he plans to visit in an official capacity.
An official visit will be crucial for Ohio State to remain contenders for Aparicio-Bailey, and following this most recent visit with the Buckeyes, it appears one is likely as long as the relationship between the two remains constant.
Aparicio-Bailey is the No. 15 safety in the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 173 national recruit. He is also the No. 9 recruit out of Alabama.
Quick Hits
Ohio State already holds nine verbal commitments in its 2027 recruiting class and is the No. 3 class in the nation. This quick start has allowed the coaching staff to shift some focus on next year’s class as well and this held true Monday as Ohio State opened the week offering 2028 cornerback Tyler Boyd (Carrollton, GA / Carrollton).
Boyd does not yet hold a star ranking from 247Sports but he already holds an impressive offer list of 23 schools including the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee and others.
