There is still four months until the next installment of the Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry on the field, but for a fleeting moment Sunday night, Wolverines fans thought they scored another victory over the Buckeyes.
Springfield four-star cornerback Aaron Scott, the second-ranked prospect in Ohio and No. 52 nationally, held a commitment ceremony at a local community center and was set to choose between Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon, although the Ducks were viewed more as a placeholder than an actual contender to land the 6-foot, 170-pounder.
Branded hats and backpacks of his three finalists laid on a table in front of him as he stood up to make his decision. He quickly set aside the Oregon gear before doing the same with the OSU hat and backpack.
Suddenly, it appeared like the Wolverines would land their second top-100 national recruit from Ohio this cycle and sixth overall from the Buckeye state. Instead, Scott pulled a fake-out, grabbing a Buckeyes jersey out of the Michigan bag and verbally committing to OSU.
“Being from Ohio knowing what they could do for me, (and) they made me feel like I’m needed,” Scott told Cleveland.com, an MLive affiliate, after his decision. “They showed me a lot of love so it just made sense for me to go there.”
If Scott had to make his decision in mid-June, the outcome might have been different. The Springfield standout took an official visit to Ann Arbor on June 16 and liked what Michigan had to offer.
But momentum started to swing in OSU’s favor the following weekend when he took an official to Columbus.
“At that time, I was leaning more to Michigan, honestly,” Scott said. “At the time of the visit, I’m still thinking I’m gonna be a Wolverine.”
The Wolverines have made a concerted effort to make Ohio a priority on the recruiting trail, thanks to back-to-back wins over the Buckeyes. But OSU rarely has allowed an opposing school to infiltrate state lines and pluck one of Ohio’s top recruits that they are coveting.
With OSU winning eight straight in the rivalry before Michigan’s 42-27 thumping in 2021, the Wolverines could only sell visions of beating their rival from the south in their recruiting pitches.
Now they have seized control of the rivalry and are the favorite to three-peat as Big Ten champion. Their on-field success has translated to a recruiting surge in the 2024 class.
In March, Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller four-star running back Jordan Marshall became the first top-100 national recruit from Ohio to commit to Michigan since Dymonte Thomas in 2013.
The Wolverines also hold pledges from four other Ohio prospects this cycle, with three of them rated as four-stars. However, only Marshall and edge Elias Rudolph, who spent his first three years at Taft High in Cincinnati before transferring to Deerfield Beach in Florida this offseason, were the only ones who held OSU offers.
With a 25-3 record over the past two seasons and an Ohio native on staff in defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, Michigan continued to swing big hoping to deliver another knockout blow to the Buckeyes by landing the top two prospects in the state this cycle: Cleveland Glenville four-star cornerback Bryce West and Scott.
Both emerged as head-to-head recruiting battles between the rivals, and OSU showed it still has a firm grasp on its homegrown talent.
West committed June 24 after visiting the same weekend as Scott, signaling the sixth straight year the Buckeyes have landed the top-ranked prospect in Ohio.
With West off the board, Michigan put on the full-court press for Scott. Michigan legend and NFL Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, an Ohio native, even joined the recruiting efforts by tweeting at him.
It gave Scott, whose father is a big OSU fan, a lot to think about.
“It made it worse,” Scott said. “It was tough.”
The impact of Scott’s commitment is two-fold. Not only is he going to Michigan’s archrival, but the with the Wolverines prioritizing Scott and West, they aren’t perceived as a leader for any other corners this cycle and have yet to land a verbal pledge at the position.
Meanwhile, OSU now has seven top-100 players in its 2024 class, which is ranked second behind Georgia (Michigan has three top-100 commits and the fourth-ranked class nationally). The Wolverines might have gotten their foot in the door recruiting Ohio, but they still have work to do to be viewed as a consistent player for the state’s elite players.
Of OSU’s 19 commits in its 2024 class, eight are in-state prospects.
