The top remaining target on Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting list has committed elsewhere.
North Carolina five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. committed to Tennessee on Saturday, choosing the Volunteers over Ohio State, Nebraska and Georgia.
Sanders, a 6-foot-6, 295-pound offensive tackle from Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the No. 2 player in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. He is the highest-rated offensive player since five-star Greg Little in 2016.
While Ohio State has signed three top-10 players for the 2025 recruiting class in cornerbacks Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord and quarterback Tavien St. Clair, the Buckeyes are still looking for their first five-star offensive lineman in the Justin Frye era.
Ohio State was able to secure a five-star offensive lineman in 2021 with guard Donovan Jackson. The Buckeyes also secured five-star offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. in 2020.
In 2025, Ohio State has two offensive line commits: 4-star tackle Carter Lowe of Toledo, the No. 50 player in the country, and 3-star center Jake Cook of Westerville.
Ohio State was also a finalist for five-star tackle Josh Petty, who committed to Georgia Tech on Monday.
Sanders received an offer from Ohio State in August 2022 and visited the Buckeyes twice in the spring before taking an official visit on June 21 and 23. Sanders reportedly visited Tennessee more times than any other school last year, including his most recent official visit.
Tennessee and Ohio State were widely considered to be Sanders’ last two choices before Decision Day.
Of the 29 offensive linemen Ohio State has offered for the 2025 recruiting class, four have not yet committed, including three-star interior lineman Jayvon McFadden, who Ohio State remains in the running for.
In the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes, the first two full classes under Frye after being hired from UCLA in January 2022, Ohio State was able to sign a top-100 offensive lineman in Luke Montgomery, the No. 1 offensive lineman in Ohio in 2023. And Montgomery proved to be an outlier, as Ohio State’s average offensive lineman is ranked 330th in the national player rankings.
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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: David Sanders Jr. chooses Tennessee over Ohio State football
