Ohio State Dealt Crushing Loss In Recruiting Battle With Alabama

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes lost a pivotal recruit today as Winton Woods high school 2025 four-star EDGE Justin Hill picked the Crimson Tide.

Nov 6, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes mascot Brutus Buckeye prepares to lead the team onto the court prior to the NCAA men s basketball game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 79-73. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

In a shocking turn of events, the Ohio State Buckeyes have missed out on 2025 four-star EDGE Justin Hill today as he announced his commitment to Alabama.

BREAKING: Elite 2025 EDGE Justin Hill has Committed to Alabama, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’4 225 EDGE from Cincinnati, OH chose the Crimson Tide over Ohio State, Oregon, & USC

“Let All Naysayers Know🐘”https://t.co/OP5xtJGw1Z pic.twitter.com/27mlSzb7iZ

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 3, 2024

Hill held offers from Ohio State, Oregon, and USC, but the No. 6 EDGE in the 2025 class ultimately chose to play for the Crimson Tide. This comes to a shock to many Buckeyes fans, as the Cincinnati, Ohio native had a 51.6 percent prediction to Ohio State, according to On3.com. Alabama, on the other hand, stood at 43.1 percent at On3.

The future Winton Woods graduate took a visit to Columbus back in May, while also visiting Alabama, Oregon and USC during the month of June. 13 days after his final trip, Hill decided on Alabama.

Ohio State's battle with the Crimson Tide makes this a tough loss for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer has done a terrific job of recruiting shortly after being hired. Nick Saban's successor stands as the No. 2 overall team in the 2025 class, which includes one five-star and 16 four-star commits. With his commitment, Hill becomes the first EDGE to commit to Alabama in the 2025 class.

Justin Hill commits to Alabama. ⁦@WCPO⁩ pic.twitter.com/4thiz03r3b

— Mike Dyer (@MikeDyer) July 3, 2024

The 2025 EDGE class for Ohio State already features three commits, including four-stars Zahir Mathis and Zion Grady. However, Hill would have been the highest-rated EDGE recruit in the class and he was Jim Knowles target to use at the Jack position in their defense.

In today's day and age of recruiting high school players, you can be sure the Buckeyes staff will continue to recruit Hill up until he signs a national letter of intent to make it official in Tuscaloosa. Perhaps there is something they can do to flip him and bring him to Columbus. But this is a huge blow for the Scarlet and Gray in the meantime.

Despite missing out on Hill, the Buckeyes remain No.1 in the 2025 recruiting class across many websites. The class has three five-star commits, while also holding 15 four-star commits.