Ohio State has had a busy spring, and with the calendar flipping to April the end of spring practices is approaching just as quickly as it opened.
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have had a successful spring so far, both in regards to preparing for the 2026-27 regular season and with recruiting. The Buckeyes have played host to numerous recruits over the last few weeks and will continue to do so until the spring game kicks off April 18.
Despite the hard work, the Buckeyes have yet to secure a commitment
in the 2027 recruiting cycle this spring. But this doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a success, far from it. Ohio State has gained ground with multiple recruits because of the spring recruiting visits and is sitting pretty for many of the recruits they are targeting to close the cycle out.
This continued Monday, when the Buckeyes received good news regarding a defensive end they are heavily targeting in the 2027 class.
Four-star edge Mekai Brown (Greenwich, CT / Greenwich Country Day) announced his top five schools in his recruitment moving forward and Ohio State made the cut.
Alongside Ohio State, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and USC all made the cut for Brown, who has made unofficial visits with all of his finalists outside of Notre Dame, who could easily receive one before the spring practice session comes to an end.
Ohio State didn’t make his top five schools for no reason. The Buckeyes have long been targeting Brown and have really started making him feel like a priority recruit this spring. Brown visited with the Buckeyes for its game against Rutgers last season, roughly one month after receiving an official scholarship offer from Ohio State.
He then made a return visit to Columbus at the end of March and following the visit, Ohio State was looking like legitimate contenders for Brown.
Shortly after wrapping up his spring visits, Brown released his top five schools, and unsurprisingly Ohio State was included. That being said, the Buckeyes have some stiff competition and with Notre Dame making the cut, without receiving a visit, over the likes of Tennessee, Rutgers, Penn State and others, it shows he values the offer from the Irish highly.
Brown does not yet have his official visit schedule finalized, but expect him to visit with all five of his finalists, and maybe more. These official visits will go a long way in helping Brown narrow down his list of suitors even further and expect the Buckeyes to do everything they can to remain int he mix.
Brown is the No. 6 edge in the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 49 national recruit.
The good news didn’t stop with Brown for the Buckeyes on Monday as the team learned late Monday evening that they also made the cut for one of the top wide receivers in the 2027 cycle with Tae Walden Jr. (Collierville, TN / Collierville) including them in his newly released top ten schools.
Alongside the Buckeyes, Oregon, Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, LSU, Clemson, Notre Dame and Ole Miss all also made his top ten schools.
Walden, unlike Brown, may be a name that is not as familiar for Buckeye Nation. Ohio State offered Walden in January of this year but he has yet to find his way to Columbus for an unofficial visit, nor has he announced an upcoming visit with them this spring.
That being said, he is still interested enough in the Buckeyes to include them in his top schools and it is no secret that Ohio State is one of the best schools in college football in developing talent at the position.
Walden does have some official visits scheduled for this summer, but there may be changes to his official visit schedule as he was slated to visit with Florida State but they surprisingly did not make his recent cut. Additionally, recruits are no longer limited to only five official visits like in years prior.
Look for Ohio State to do everything it can to receive an official visit from him later this year so he is able to see what all Ohio State is able to offer him.
Walden is the No. 6 ATH in the 247Sports and is the No. 125 national recruit. He is being recruited as a wide receiver by Ohio State and many of the other programs targeting him.
