Buckeyes beat out Michigan for top defensive recruit
Tyler Friday is one of two ends added to 2018 recruiting class.
The phrase “Thank goodness it’s Friday” has likely gained new meaning for Ohio State football coaches.
Friday afternoon, highly sought defensive end Tyler Friday announced his commitment to the 2018 OSU recruiting class.
Friday made his choice known during a ceremony at his school, Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey.
“After this long process, I decided to take my talents to spend the next four years at the Ohio State University,” the 6-foot-3, 262-pound Friday said as he pulled on an OSU cap.
His final three were OSU, Michigan and Alabama, and until a couple of months ago he was said to be leaning toward Michigan, especially since he hails from an area in New Jersey where the Wolverines have had strong recruiting success.
But Bucknuts recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic noted a change in Friday’s thinking after his official visit to OSU the weekend of the Buckeyes’ final home game of the season, against Illinois.
“I definitely gained a vibe from him at that point that Ohio State had passed Michigan as far as he was concerned,” Kurelic said.
The OSU focus on Friday picked up after the early signing day on Dec. 20 when, despite signing 21 prospects to what is considered the No. 2 class in the nation at that moment, there was no true defensive end on the list.
Since then the Buckeyes have gotten commitments from DE Tyreke Smith of Cleveland Heights and Friday, both expected to sign national letters of intent Feb. 7.
“Friday is a big-time addition, and not just because he is rated No. 85 nationally in the 247sports composite (of the major recruiting rankings), but because Ohio State needed at least one more defensive end in this class,” Kurelic said. “Plus, they won a recruiting battle with Michigan to get him.”
The Buckeyes now hold 11 commitments from prospects in the 247Sports composite top 100, good for best in the country by a fairly safe margin. Friday is Ohio State’s 23rd commitment in this class, and 20 of them are regarded as 4- or 5-star prospects. Georgia holds commitments from 18 such prospects and Auburn and Texas each hold 17 commits meeting those criteria.
Barrett honored: On the eve of playing in the EastWest Shrine game Saturday in St. Petersburg, Florida, outgoing Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was named the winner of the game’s Pat Tillman award.
It goes annually to the player who best exemplifies intelligence, sportsmanship and service, and it takes into account his achievements and conduct on and off the field, celebrating the qualities brought by Tillman, a former Arizona State and NFL player killed in 2004 while serving in Afghanistan.
“It is an honor to receive this award that holds Pat Tillman’s name,” Barrett said in a news release announcing the honor. “The people that he impacted during his career and the sacrifice he made says a lot about the kind of man he was.”
Barrett set multiple Big Ten and Ohio State records in his four-year run as starting quarterback. He led the Buckeyes to a win the Cotton Bowl over Southern California last month in which he passed Drew Brees as the Big Ten’s career total offense leader.
“J.T. Barrett is one of the great young leaders I have ever been around,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said in the release. “On behalf of the entire Ohio State football program, I want to congratulate J.T. on this tremendous honor of being named the East-West Shrine Game’s Pat Tillman Award winner.”