Ohio State adds another major in-state recruit

At this early stage in evaluating high school juniors-to-be, he is the No. 44 player in the country and No. 9 offensive tackle prospect nationally according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

He is the No. 2 player in Ohio, trailing only fellow Ohio State commit Jack Sawyer of Pickerington North.

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Ohio State has four commits for 2021. Joining Sawyer and Christman are fellow Ohioan Jayden Ballard, a receiver from Massillon Washington, and Philadelphia St. Joseph's quarterback Kyle McCord.

The news wasn’t all good for Ohio State, though, as one of Ohio’s best rising seniors announced he will be headed elsewhere to continue his career.

DeaMonte Trayanum, a four-star running back from Akron Hoban, verbally committed to Arizona State on Tuesday night.

He is the country’s No. 227 overall 2020 prospect, the No. 18 running back, and the No. 5 prospect in Ohio.

His other offers included Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Boston College according to 247Sports.com.

Trayanum recently made official visits to those three Big Ten schools before settling on heading west.

Ohio State’s 2020 recruiting class ranks seventh in the country and No. 1 in the conference, but coach Ryan Day is still looking for a running back in the class.

Two of the top prospects at that position in Ohio — Trayanum and Fairfield’s Jutahn McClain — have already committed elsewhere, but the Buckeyes remain in pursuit of multiple national targets.

The latter group includes Kendall Milton of Clovis, Calif.; Bijan Robinson of Tucson, Ariz.; and E.J. Smith of Dallas, Texas.