Since the transfer portal officially opened for business on Dec. 5, more than 1,000 student-athletes have already opted to leave their current schools, and Ohio State has already gotten involved with several of those prospects.
The clearest priority so far for the Buckeyes has been on the offensive line, where Ohio State has already offered three in the portal. First up is offensive tackle Dillon Wade (6-4, 290), who is in the portal out of Tulsa.
Wade was offered by Ohio State on Dec. 13 after starting 12 games this past season for the Golden Hurricanes and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
The following day, Ohio State issued an offer to offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius (6-5, 310), who is in the portal following his sophomore season at Rhode Island, an FCS school.
Cornelius has started 22 games at right tackle for the Rams over the past two seasons, and earned first-team honors in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference. A native of Harlem, N.Y., he holds additional offers from Auburn, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State and Tennessee, among others, and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Finally, the Buckeyes also offered offensive tackle Jeremiah Byers, who is in the portal out of UTEP, on Dec. 14.
Byers (6-4, 331) started 25 games over the past two seasons at right tackle, earning an All-Conference USA honorable mention in 2021. Like Wade and Cornelius, Byers has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
OSU Interested In Pair Of Transfer Cornerbacks
Reports from 247Sports indicated that Ohio State has already contacted Virginia transfer cornerback Fentrell Cypress II and North Carolina transfer cornerback Tony Grimes. Both have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Cypress is a former three-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class out of Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern, and he’s started each of the past two seasons for Virginia. He racked up 39 tackles and 14 pass breakups this season for the Cavaliers and was named Second Team All-ACC. Other programs expected to be involved with Cypress include Ole Miss, Syracuse and Tennessee.
Grimes is a former five-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class out of Virginia Beach (Va.) Princess Anne who has been a standout for the Tar Heels over the last three seasons.
He started four games as a true freshman in 2020, finishing with 14 tackles, a sack, an interception and four pass breakups, and then started all 13 games for North Carolina in 2021, finishing with nine pass breakups. He had another exceptional season in 2022, accounting for 36 tackles, seven pass breakups and a forced fumble.
