Major Ohio State Target Sets Commitment Date And Announces Surprising Top 4

Five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. officially set his commitment date for August 17th. At the same time, he raised some eyebrows with his top four.

Oct 28, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes helmets sit on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The anticipation for five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr.'s commitment date has been building for quite some time. On Sunday evening, we got some clarity on when that major announcement will be.

The number one offensive tackle in the 2025 class was rumored to want to make his decision known prior to the start of his senior season with the Providence Day Chargers. With the team's first regular season game scheduled for August 22nd, the newly-announced commitment date of August 17th makes all the sense in the world.

BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT David Sanders Jr. will Announce his Commitment on August 17th, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’6 285 OT from Charlotte, NC will choose between Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio State, & Tennessee

Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/YaztIGz5OL pic.twitter.com/l7Ox6TKSOl

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 7, 2024

The Ohio State Buckeyes and several other teams will get a month and a half to continue to push for the highly-touted tackle. It will be a competitive race for Sanders all the way to the finish line and Buckeyes' fans will continue to hold out hope for securing his services.

With the announcement of a commitment date, Sanders Jr. also happened to announce his final four teams. All of the prior reports pointed to that group consisting of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, Georgia Bulldogs and Clemson Tigers. However, the Tigers were not on that list and Nebraska replaced them in the top four.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were not a part of the top six teams that Sanders Jr. announced on March 2nd. The general consensus since that time was that the Alabama Crimson Tide and South Carolina Gamecocks had fallen off the pace on the recruiting trail, yet Nebraska replacing Clemson seemed to be a surprise for everyone.

Sanders did visit the Cornhuskers back in May and clearly Nebraska did enough to sway his opinion. Now with Matt Rhule's group in the mix, this will be a true Big Ten versus SEC battle for Sanders.

Great week of testing! PR’s on all lifts!
Power clean 365
Squat 500
Bench 340 #hardworkworks @PDS_ChargersFB @ChadGrier_ @IAM_EvanGates pic.twitter.com/wsSc3E8L8Q

— David Sanders Jr. (@DavidLSandersJr) May 24, 2024

Despite the belief that this is more of a three horse race between the Buckeyes, Vols and Bulldogs, the Cornhuskers clearly can't be counted out. Especially since they came from behind to make it to this point.

As Ohio State and offensive line coach Justin Frye firmly sit in contention, getting David Sanders Jr. could turn Ohio State's number one class in the country into a record setting class.