Ohio State Buckeyes dealt tough loss on the recruiting trail that they didn’t want to happen at the hands of another Big Ten team
The spring has been good for the Ohio State Buckeyes when it comes to recruiting. Ohio State has the No. 6 class for 2026 and has 11 commitments so far. The Buckeyes picked up a lot of steam in the months of March and April for the class. However, the Buckeyes have now lost the […]
The spring has been good for the Ohio State Buckeyes when it comes to recruiting.
Ohio State has the No. 6 class for 2026 and has 11 commitments so far. The Buckeyes picked up a lot of steam in the months of March and April for the class.
However, the Buckeyes have now lost the No. 1 player in the state of Ohio to another Big Ten team.
Archbishop Hoban (OH) CB Elbert Hill chooses USC over Ohio State and Oregon
The Buckeyes have missed out on the No. 1 player in the state of Ohio, as Elbert Hill will make the trip to Southern California to play for Lincoln Riley. Hill chose the Trojans over Ohio State, Oregon, and Alabama.
Hill is the No. 3 cornerback in the country and the No. 40 overall player in the class of 2026, according to 247 Sports Composite rankings. Right now, the Buckeyes have just the No. 5 and No. 6 players in Ohio committed to play in Columbus and that is OL Maxwell Riley and Hill’s teammate OT Sam Greer.
Over the last few months, Hill has been a common visitor to USC and hasn’t been on campus in Columbus. The writing was on the wall for the Hoban product to choose USC. Hill still has an official visit to Columbus scheduled for the summer, though it is unclear if that will happen now.
Two years in a row now the Buckeyes have lost top defensive backs from in-state. Trey McNutt and Dorian Brew both chose Oregon over Ohio State in the 2025 cycle.
Ohio State now turns their focus to other targets to add to their class that has just one cornerback committed with Jakob Weatherspoon.
