Ohio State labeled as one of six finalists for Rivals100 DT Chris McClellan
Earlier this year, Chris McClellan was not in contention for being a member of Ohio State’s 2022 class.
That was until the coaching staff dished out an offer to him on April 1, becoming an instant contender for his services. McClellan raved about the Buckeyes in a couple of conversations we had with him that month, and picked Columbus as one of a trio of official visit destinations back in June.
Just over four months after giving him the green light, they have taken yet another key step in their pursuit of the Rivals100 defensive tackle.
On Wednesday, McClellan labeled Ryan Day’s program as one of six finalists in his recruitment after previously dropping a top 17 in early June. Alabama, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma and USC also made the cut for the ninth-ranked DT in the nation.
While landing in a top six is not necessarily bad news, some in Buckeye Nation were hoping that McClellan’s next big announcement would have been a commitment. After all, McClellan publicly labeled Ohio State as his leader after his official visit in the final weekend of June, and did not rule out the possibility of making a decision in the days that followed his trip.
Any hopes for a commitment were put to the side back on July 5 as McClellan tweeted that his primary focus was on his education, not his recruitment. Even though he’s still uncommitted, there were some interesting comments McClellan made in our late June interview that hold relevancy to this day.
The one quote that stood out from the rest was when McClellan detailed why the Buckeyes rose to the top spot on his leaderboard during his official.
"Definitely, after today, I could say they are leading my recruitment, as of now," McClellan previously told BuckeyeGrove. "It's just the attention to detail that they have. They're losing eight guys. I think four inside guys and four more outside guys... but still, they're losing four. As soon as I'm there, I'm in a two-deep rotation. Especially me being an early grad and getting all that one-on-one time with Coach [Johnson] and being able to be developed, it makes sense."
We’d contend that McClellan would say, at this time, that his recruiting process is wide open if asked whether or not tOSU was still his leader; what hasn’t changed, however, is the appeal of the depth chart and the presences of Larry Johnson on the staff.
No defensive linemen have committed to the program over the past couple of months, which puts the versatile Oklahoma-based prospect in a position to be the first player in his position group to commit to the class. Also, we don’t know when Johnson will retire, but we’ve heard from those in the 2022 class and their parents that the belief is he’ll be around for potentially a couple of more seasons or more.
The Buckeyes would love for McClellan to join forces with them today, but they’ll take a spot in his top six with a chance to win him over with their on-field play (specifically that of Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau) this upcoming season.
Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.