Ohio State is in the final stretch of its 2024 football season. The regular season ended more than a week ago for the Buckeyes, but the team now knows who it will be playing in the first round of the first College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes host Tennessee in just under two weeks, and over the coming days many of the headlines will focus around this. But the Ohio State coaching staff will have to juggle preparing this year's roster of Buckeyes for the game with the busy recruiting cycle.
Monday saw the opening of the college football transfer portal, and it was the busiest opening day yet. Ohio State saw multiple players decide to transfer out of the program, and also saw multiple potential targets enter from other programs as well.
All this being said, traditional recruiting is still taking place. The rush of the Early Signing Period for the 2025 class may have come and gone, but Ohio State is still targeting multiple recruits in this year's cycle. Additionally, the Buckeyes are also looking ahead to next year's class.
Ohio State holds three verbal commitments already in the 2026 class, which is good enough for the No. 17 class in the country by 247Sports. The Buckeyes are shifting focus from 2025 to 2026, and a part of this shift will take place this weekend as Ohio State is set to play host to the nation's top prospect.
Five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (Nixa, MO / Nixa) announced on Monday that he will be taking an unofficial visit to Ohio State this weekend.
As can be seen in his post above, immediately following his visit with Ohio State, Cantwell will travel north and also visit with Ohio State's rival, Michigan. The Wolverines are far from Ohio State's only competition from Cantwell, as he already holds a reported 30+ offers from some of the top college football programs across the country.
Ohio State offered Cantwell back in October of 2023 and have since remained in contact with him. The weekend visit will be big for Ohio State's chances in his recruitment though, as he has already visited with teams like Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas A&M, among others.
Ohio State may have some slight groundwork to make up for in his recruitment, and this weekend will hopefully help begin that. There is no question that Cantwell plays a position that is of great importance and need for the Buckeyes and getting someone with Cantwell's potential on campus would be a massive recruiting win at a position the Buckeyes have struggled to recruit as of late.
Cantwell is the No. 1 OT in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 1 overall prospect.