Blue White Illustrated

| Ohio State wins conference recruiting crown T he rich always seem to get richer in college football recruiting. One prime example is the tremendous job both Urban Meyer and Ryan Day have done signing top->ve classes for Ohio State. Only once in the past >ve years have the Buckeyes not >nished in the top >ve of the Rivals.com team rankings. That outlier class came aboard in 2019 when there was some un- certainty as to whether Meyer was going to con- tinue as head coach and, if not, who might take his place. With the coaching sta@ in ?ux, Ohio State >n- ished 21st in the Rivals rank- ings that year. Otherwise, the Buckeyes have led the way in the Big Ten. Their 2020 class was >Bh nationally, while their 2017 and 2018 classes were second. This year's class is up near the top, too, ranking second overall. As of this writing, Ohio State was still waiting on a decision from J.T. Tu- imoloau, the No. 2 strongside defensive end in the country. Even if they get the >ve-star prospect from Bellevue, Wash., Day and his sta@ will have to settle for second place nationally. That's because Alabama has clearly recruited the No. 1 class, having signed 27 players, including >ve >ve-star, 18 four-star and four three- star recruits. But don't feel bad for the Buckeyes. They dominated Big Ten recruiting for the Class of 2021, landing three >ve-star, 16 four-star and just one three-star recruit. Their >ve-star recruits are receiver Emeka Egbuka of Steilacoom, Wash.; guard Donovan Jackson of Houston; and defen- sive end Jack Sawyer of Pickerington, Ohio. All three are rated No. 1 in the coun- try at their respective positions by Rivals. Ohio State's top-rated four-star recruits are defensive back Jakailin Johnson of St. Louis, Mo.; quarterback Kyle McCord of Philadelphia; o@ensive lineman Ben Christman of Rich>eld, Ohio; and linebacker Reid Carrico of Ironton, Ohio. And Day's recruiting success is already rolling over into the Class of 2022. The Buckeyes had landed 10 verbal com- mitments as of this writ- ing, including three >ve-star prospects in cornerback Jaheim Sin- gletary of Jacksonville, Fla.; quarterback Quinn Ewers of Southlake, Texas; and linebacker C.J. Hicks of Kettering, Ohio. Ewers is Rivals' top- ranked pro-style quar- terback in the 2022 class. With each successive recruiting class, Ohio State seems to be putting more distance between itself and the rest of the Big Ten. Michigan, surprisingly, had the No. 2 class in the conference this year. The Wolverines finished ninth nationally in the Rivals team rankings even though there was considerable uncertainty sur- rounding Jim Harbaugh's contract ex- tension until after the 2020 season ended. The Wolverines landed 21 prospects, in- cluding 14 four-star and eight three-star signees. At the top of Michigan's list are running back Donovan Edwards of West Bloom>eld, Mich.; defensive tackle Rayshawn Benny of Oak Park, Mich.; wide receiver Xavier Worthy of Fresno, Calif.; linebacker Junior Colson of Brent- wood, Tenn.; quarterback J.J. McCarthy of Bradenton, Fla.; and o@ensive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi of Sterling Heights, Mich. Wisconsin pulled in the conference's No. 3 class and the 14-ranked class na- tionally. At the top of the Badgers' list is >ve-star o@ensive lineman Nolan Rucci of Lititz, Pa. They also landed eight four- star players, a group headlined by defen- sive end T.J. Bollers of TiAn, Iowa; safety Braelon Allen of Fond du Lac, Wis.; free safety Hunter Wohler of Muskego, Wis.; and o@ensive lineman J.P. Benzschauwel of GraBon, Wis. Nebraska is next with a 20-player class that ranked fourth in the conference and 19th nationally. The Cornhuskers landed three four-star and 17 three-star recruits. Their four-star signees are linebacker Wynden Ho'ohuli of Mililani, Hawaii; tight end Thomas Fidone of Council Blu@s, Iowa; and o@ensive lineman Teddy Prochazka of Elkhorn, Neb. The Big Ten's most surprising team in this recruiting cycle was Maryland. The Terrapins ended up >Bh in the conference and 20th nationally, landing one >ve- star, three four-star and 16 three-star re- cruits. The best part of Maryland's class is its three linebackers: >ve-star OLB Terrence Lewis of Miami, Fla.; four-star LB Bran- don Johnson of Jacksonville, Fla.; and four-star OLB Demeioun Robinson of Gaithersburg, Md. The Terrapins' third four-star signee is defensive tackle Taizse Johnson of Washington, D.C. Iowa landed the Big Ten's sixth-rated class and the 24th-best class in the coun- try. It features six four-star, 11 three-star and two two-star recruits. The Hawkeyes' top four-star signees are of- fensive linemen Connor Colby of Cedar B I G T E N R O U N D U P >> RIVALS BIG TEN* 1. Ohio State (2) 2. Michigan (9) 3. Wisconsin (14) 4. Nebraska (19) 5. Maryland (20) 6. Iowa (24) 7. Penn State (26) 8. Rutgers (37) 9. Michigan State (38) 10. Minnesota (39) 11. Northwestern (53) 12. Indiana (62) 13. Illinois (72) 14. Purdue (75) * National rankings in parenthesis

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