Most likely the reason he committed to Xichigan is because OSU has not offered him as of yet.
Possibly, but that seems to be a theme with players from Ohio according to Luke Hamilton, the recruit who committed to Michigan while on a visit to OSU. Here is a quote from him:
“(Ohio State) did this to all of the in-state (recruits). They put us on the back burner and will wait until the last second, because they think they have us committed there if they offer, which I think is totally stupid. That is not how that works at all. I’ve talked to linemen all around Cleveland and people that I know and they all feel the same way. … I think Ohio State is taking too long and I don’t think they are doing it right (at this time).”
Which again was kind of my point previously. OSU will still control most in state recruiting, but there are a ton of good players in Ohio, and there are some who may look elsewhere if OSU struggles, or continues to dilly dally with in state guys. That was a huge part of Tressel's start, was locking up Ohio.
Hamilton is the 5th ranked recruit in OH, and he is I believe the 8th ranked tackle in the country for his class. A guy OSU would typically try to lock up. Now maybe he isn't a fit for whatever reason, but if OSU is stringing guys out as an insurance policy, a lot of those guys will start going elsewhere.
While I love Tressel and this isn't a knock on him, but recruiting at Ohio State has changed drastically since he coached for many reasons. I'll name a few as this could become a long conversation if explaining all the reasons.
Ohio State recruits nationally. When Urban came here, he changed the recruiting model for OSU. It was more about getting top recruits nationally while focusing only on the few top recruits from Ohio and supplementing the rest of the class with 3 or 4 stars from the Ohio area.
Ohio isn't the hot bed that it was in the early 2000s and earlier. Sure, there is still some great talent here, but alot of talent is the south. Urban and Day have focused on getting players from the south (i.e. GA, FL, TX mostly). There is so much talent in those areas. big reason for this is technology advancement. It's easy to communicate with anyone in the world. Applying for a job is made easy b/c of the internet. You can go online and buy/rent a place. Families can move anywhere and know they have a job and a place to live. Recruiting has exploded over the years. Partly b/c of internet recruiting sites, accessibility to get tape on almost any recruit, and also NCAA rule changes with summer camps where schools like Ohio State can get one on one time with any recruit to evaluate them.
Urban, just like Day will go hard right away after identified top recruits from Ohio. The ones a tier below that, they know they have a great chance of getting them closer to signing day. I can't speak for Hamilton. They could be so many reasons Ohio State didn't offer. His first of his statement, if he's talking generally about "all in-state recruits" then that is bs. He does say a couple sentences later about lineman, so if it's only lineman then that is different then "all" in-state. Though, that can be challenged b/c over the years, they have offered top lineman early from Ohio.
"OSU will still control most in state recruiting, but there are a ton of good players in Ohio, and there are some who may look elsewhere if OSU struggles"
OSU is a national brand. Recruits know they will be in the playoff hunt yearly for the significant future. But a good portion of why top recruits will come here is to get into the league. They have put the last couple QBs in the league. They have two highly rated recruits as backups and Dylan Raiola is the number 1 ranked recruit in the '24 class. I could go on about other positions for the similar reasons.
Losing recruits from Ohio will happen, but a high percentage of the time it will be b/c of OSU's choice. Some recruits will just choose other places. An example of this is Jackson Carmen (#2 LT five star) a few years ago. Ohio State went hard for him. He just didn't want to be in Ohio and signed with Clemson. So who did scramble to replace him? Petite-Ferre... a five star #1 LT in that class.
OSU will always go after top talent first. The more 5 stars / top 100 recruits on your roster, the better chance you will always be in the playoffs/National Championship conversation.
