With the 2025-26 college football season now closed, Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff will focus on doing everything possible to ensure next year’s group of Buckeyes achieve more success than
this previous season. While there were certainly some meaningful victories this season for the Buckeyes (mainly finally beating Michigan) there was also a lot left on the table.
Ohio State has already made some significant changes since the start of the off-season. The Buckeyes saw the biggest roster overhaul via the transfer portal than ever before. Ohio State saw more than 30 players enter their name into the portal and have brought in nearly 20 to replace them.
Additionally, Ohio State has also determined who its next offensive coordinator will be with the hiring of former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith.
With everything going on, Ohio State’s coaching staff is also finding time to recruit in the traditional sense; something that almost feels like a forgotten art after the last month. The hard work paid off on Monday as the Buckeyes learned they made the cut for a pair of prospects.
The first to announce a new top schools list was 2027 four-star wide receiver Miguel Whitley (New Orleans, LA / St. Augustine) who cut his list of more than 20 scholarship offers to just five.
Alongside Ohio State, Whitley also included LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Houston in his top schools.
Whitley is one of the top recruits in the 2027 recruiting cycle and he plays a position Ohio State has been great at recruiting in the last decade. However, with Brian Hartline now the head coach of USF, Ohio State may have to reprove itself as WRU, and a commitment from Whitley would go a long way in helping instill the confidence in new WR coach Cortez Hankton. Whitley is the No. 25 WR in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and he is the No. 176 national prospect. He is also the No. 9 recruit out of Louisiana.
Ohio State has been recruiting Whitley for some time now and officially offered him in June. He will likely schedule official visits with all five of his finalists but until then, no school will likely separate itself from the pack. If there is a favorite, home-state school LSU may be have a slight edge, but it is minimal at most.
The Buckeyes already holds a commitment from five-star WR Jamier Brown and Whitley would make for an excellent addition alongside Brown. The duo would go a long way in adding depth to an important position on Ohio State’s offense.
Whitley was not the only recruit to include Ohio State in their top schools list Monday as four-star cornerback Josiah Molden (West Linn, OR / West Linn) also released a new top schools list. Molden, who holds nearly 20 scholarship offers narrowed down his schools of interest to just six and Ohio State made the cut.
Alongside Ohio State, Molden also included USC, Texas, Oregon, Washington and Miami in his top schools.
Unlike Whitley, Molden certainly appears to be favoring the home-state school in his recruitment. Oregon is viewed as the early favorites for him and Dan Lemming and the Ducks have been doing their best job at keeping him out West. Especially knowing that losing him could result in him going to fellow Big Ten schools USC, Washington or Ohio State, who appears to be Oregon’s biggest competition for Molden right now.
The Buckeyes have a lot of work cut out for them in his recruitment though, as Molden recently visited with Oregon alongside dozens of other recruits for an Oregon Junior Day recruiting camp. Ohio State will need to find ways to get on campus this spring and likely this season for an in-game visit if it is going to pry the blue-chip defensive back from out West.
Ohio State currently holds two commitments at safety in the 2027 cycle in four-star Eli Johnson and three-star Angelo Smith, but the Buckeyes have yet to add a corner to the class. Molden, alongside Johnson and Smith would make for an impressive start for Ohio State’s defensive back haul in the class.
Molden is the No. 20 CB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 195 national recruit. He is also the No. 1 recruit out of Oregon.
Quick Hits
Ohio State currently holds nine verbal commitments in the 2027 recruiting cycle, and sits at No. 3 in the 247Sports Class Rankings. Because of this, Ohio State is also looking ahead to the sophomore class and getting a head start in building relationships with the best recruits in the 2028 class.
Monday was more of the same, and below are just some of the recruits who received the coveted Ohio State offer to start their week:
Four-star edge Elijah Tillman
Hometown: Loganville, GA / Grayson
Size: 6-foot-7 / 210 lbs.
247Sports Composite Ranking: No. 5 edge / No. 47 national
Edge Malik Muhammad
Hometown: Sylvester, GA / Worth County
Size: 6-foot-4 / 205 lbs.
247Sports Composite Rankings: N/A
