How Defensive Tackle Hero Kanu Impacts Ohio State's 2022 Recruiting Class

An in-depth look at what Kanu will bring to the Buckeyes both on and off the field.

Ohio State secured a commitment this afternoon from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Catholic four-star defensive tackle Hero Kanu, who pledged his services to the Buckeyes during the third quarter of the All-American Bowl.

It was the culmination of a journey that saw the 6-foot-5 and 293-pound Kanu leave his hometown of Geltendorf, Germany, in October 2020 in hopes of landing a scholarship from a major college football program.

Kanu benefitted from the coronavirus pandemic pushing California’s fall sports season into the spring, as he recorded 28 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in just five games against some of the toughest competition in all of high school football to catch the eye of college coaches

His stock only grew from there, as he toured campuses across the country last summer, including a two-day visit to Ohio State in mid-June. That visited featured some one-on-one time with defensive line coach Larry Johnson, which put the Buckeyes at the forefront of his recruitment very early on in the process.

@HeroKanu learning from one of the 🐐’s in the game @R2X_Rushmen1 pic.twitter.com/4dYWNS3AKR

— Brandon Collier (@BCollierPPI) June 23, 2021

Kanu took the lessons learned on those visits and applied them during his senior season with the Eagles, as he garnered first-team All-Trinity League honors this fall. He recorded 55 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and nine sacks, a disruptive effort that has led to comparisons to former Nebraska and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

“Kanu is cat quick out of his stance and works as a grunt inside and out on Friday nights,” SI All-American director of recruiting John Garcia said. “As athletic, pound-for-pound, as anybody (in the country). He plays a controlled game and can really stress a blocker at the point of attack.”

Kanu will go down in the record books as yet another Ohio State signee from the state of California, but he’ll also become just the second player from Europe this century to play for the Buckeyes.

Former kicker Sean Nuernberger was also born in Germany, where his father played for the country’s basketball team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, before he moved to the United States when he was in third grade.

That said, Kanu likely won’t be the last player from Europe to play at Ohio State in the coming years. His travel group, Premier Players International, continues to tour the country each summer, and there are many talented players hoping to make the move overseas to live out their dreams – with one of them quite possibly becoming first player to sign with the Buckeyes straight out of Europe.

“For us Europeans, we don’t really know these schools like Americans do,” Kanu told BuckeyesNow and others gathered at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for his aforementioned visit. “But now that you get into football, into the academics, you’re like, ‘That might be a good opportunity.’”

With his commitment, Kanu becomes the fourth defensive lineman to commit to Ohio State this cycle and third in the last month, joining Duncanville, Texas, four-star end Omari Abor; Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna Prep four-star defensive end Kenyatta Jackson; and Greenwood (Ind.) four-star tackle Caden Curry.

The Buckeyes would certainly love to add one more player at the position in Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove four-star Christen Miller, but he’s widely viewed as a lean for the home-state Bulldogs. His recruitment will go all the way to the finish line, as he’ll choose between Georgia, Florida A&M, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State and Oregon on National Signing Day.

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