Five-star running back Kendall Milton included Ohio State in his final four, which he announced Friday evening on Twitter.
The highly touted tailback from Clovis (Calif.) Buchanan also included Alabama, Georgia and LSU for his potential college destination.
FINAL 4❤️ pic.twitter.com/9CQ90ZAtG2
— Kendall Milton (@_KendallMilton) May 17, 2019
Milton omitted USC, Penn State and Oklahoma among others, with the Sooners perhaps being the most surprised, having led predictions made on Rivals and 247Sports.
From the Golden State, Milton is the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 3 running back in the nation, as well as the No. 4 player in California, per 247Sports composite.
At 6-2, 220 pounds, Milton is a powerful runner, yet he is still nimble. He clocked in at 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash along with a 4.25s 20-yard shuttle at The Opening on May 11.
Milton made an April 5 unofficial visit to Ohio State during spring practices, which appeared to have done enough to keep the Buckeyes in the hunt.
Ohio State has also shown strong interest in Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic 2020 five-star Bijan Robinson, who is the 247Sports composite’s No. 5 running back and will make a June 14 unofficial visit to Columbus.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and running backs coach Tony Alford have drawn high interest from top-tier recruits. The Buckeyes’ options include Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep four-star athlete Jalen Berger, Largo (Fla.) Pinellas Park four-star running back Lawrance Toafili, Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban four-star running back DeaMonte Trayanum and Dublin (Ohio) Coffman four-star all-purpose back Michael Drennen.
Berger is the No. 9 running back in the country while Toafili and Trayanum are No. 10 and No. 18, respectively. Drennen is the country’s No. 5 all-purpose back.
There is plenty of time for Milton to make his decision, but whichever of the four schools earns his favor will boost their recruiting class mightily. LSU had the No. 1 recruiting class until Clemson’s hot streak of commits gave it the top spot.
LSU sits at No. 2 and Alabama is No. 3, while Georgia is No. 5 and Ohio State is at No. 11, with many cards still on the table.
Alabama is the only program in Milton’s final four already with a commit at running back, four-star Roydell Williams.
Ohio State commit Paris Johnson Jr., the No. 1 tackle in the nation from Cincinnati Princeton, responded to Milton’s announcement.
we talked about this.. 🤝
— Paris Johnson Jr. (@ParisJohnsonJr) May 17, 2019
