Ohio State football: Ryan Day true to his word, turns down top transfer cornerback

Ryan Day’s Ohio State football program is reportedly no longer in the mix to land former LSU cornerback Eli Ricks in the transfer portal.

Former LSU cornerback Eli Ricks is reportedly no longer in the running to join Ryan Day’s Ohio State football team by way of the transfer portal.

While Ohio State had been seen as a leader to land the former five-star from Rancho Cucamonga, California, the Buckeyes backed off over fear much of the defensive back room would transfer immediately upon him entering the program. A big reason why Ohio State has two losses on the year is the sub-par play of its defense. The Buckeyes will play the Utah Utes in the Rose Bowl.

Alabama, Georgia and USC are seen as the primary teams to watch in Ricks’ ongoing recruitment.

Eli Ricks recruitment: Who is favored to get him after Ohio State backed out?

While no predictions have been made thus far with Ricks going into the portal, it’s hard to overlook the impact of Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma and taking over at USC. That is a total game changer. Players like Ricks would not have made their way to the SEC if the Trojans had the right head coach. Now, it seems that they do. However, Alabama and Georgia are absolute recruiting beasts.

Ricks competed against Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide during his two-year run in the SEC West. While LSU did not play Georgia when Ricks was in Baton Rouge, Kirby Smart has done a phenomenal job on the recruiting trails, especially getting top-flight talent from California to link up with his team in Athens. It is still early, but USC’s case to get Ricks just got more compelling.

With Ohio State punting on Ricks, what does that say about the state of Day’s Buckeyes program?

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