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Ohio State Dealt Bad News on Coveted Star on Thursday originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Ohio State Buckeyes experienced both a high and low on the recruiting trail Thursday.
The Buckeyes received a commitment from four-star linebacker Cincere Johnson. But the program also failed to land four-star edge rusher Luke Wafle.
On3’s Steve Wiltfong reported Thursday that Wafle committed to the USC Trojans instead of the Buckeyes.
“The Trojans were tracking for Wafle’s commitment coming out of last weekend’s official visit to Los Angeles,” Wiltfong wrote. “Ohio State upped its NIL package and began to trend Wednesday morning. USC then made a counter-offer to that and ultimately got the pledge locked in.
“We’re hearing Wafle’s package is between 2.2 and 2.6 million dollars over two years.”
The Trojans quickly rose up Wafle’s school rankings after he visited USC during the spring. In addition to Ohio State, Wafle chose the Trojans over the Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas Longhorns and Florida Gators.
Wiltfong wrote that Wafle also showed interested in the Oklahoma Sooners and North Carolina Tar Heels.
The 247Sports composite rankings have Wafle rated as the No. 1 New Jersey prospect and sixth-best edge rusher in the 2026 recruiting class. The same set of rankings also placed Wafle at No. 55 overall in the entire class.
It’s a disappointing miss for the Buckeyes. However, with the addition of Johnson on Thursday, Ohio State still has 16 commitments and the No. 3-ranked 2026 recruiting class, based on the 247Sports ratings.
At edge rusher, the Buckeyes have landed a commitment from four-star prospect Khary Wilder, who is the No. 241 overall recruit in the class according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Related: Ohio State Gets Good News on Highly Touted Star on Thursday
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
