Former Northwestern linebacker Nigel Glover (6-3, 210), who entered the transfer portal earlier this month ahead of his freshman season, announced Tuesday that he is transferring to Ohio State.
A former four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class out of Clayton (Ohio) Northmont, Glover was the No. 335 overall prospect and No. 30 linebacker in his class, as well as the 10th-best prospect in Ohio, and was the highest-rated prospect in Northwestern’s class. He initially chose the Wildcats over offers from Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin, among others, but he did not hold one from Ohio State coming out of high school.
Glover hit the portal after Northwestern’s firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald on July 10 following allegations of hazing within the program. He is one of three players to enter the portal from the team in recent weeks, while several have decommitted from the 2024 recruiting class. While transferring outside of NCAA-allowed windows normally would not allow a player to be immediately eligible, the NCAA does allow a player to transfer within 30 days of a head coaching change in their program.
Glover is the ninth addition this offseason for Ohio State from the portal, joining cornerbacks Davison Igbinosun and Lorenzo Styles Jr., defensive tackle Tywone Malone, long snapper John Ferlmann, offensive linemen Vic Cutler Jr. and Josh Simmons, quarterback Tristan Gebbia and safety Ja’Had Carter. The Buckeyes currently stand at 85 scholarships following the medical retirement last week of offensive lineman Avery Henry and Grant Toutant, so the expectation is that Glover will be a walk-on to begin his Ohio State career before being put on scholarship for next season.
His addition is also a significant boost for Ohio State following misses on the recruiting trail, with the Buckeyes failing to grab either Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco four-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (6-3, 230) or Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy four-star linebacker Edwin Spillman (6-2, 214) in recent weeks, with the pair going to Notre Dame and Tennessee, respectively.
