It may have taken a little longer than once hoped and there were a few scares along the way, but the recruitment of IMG Academy receiver Carnell State seems to be done with his commitment to Ohio State.
Of course, the Buckeyes will have to hold on to sign the five-star receiver, but that’s recruiting for you.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder was one of the most sought-after prospects in the nation and for some time the Buckeyes were considered to be the odds-on-favorite. But nothing is ever quite that straight forward and the Tennessee Volunteers made a late push after Tate decided to slow things down.
Before it was Tennessee, it was Notre Dame that seemed to be Ohio State’s main competition as Tate backed off of a scheduled October 8th (2021) announcement date. Tate would go to tell BuckeyeScoop that the decision to back off was in order to make sure he was making the right decision and avoid the potential of making a quick commitment, only to back off of it and wanting his commitment to be his one and only.
Brian Hartline’s recent track record of recruiting wide receivers was something that nobody could overlook as there has not been a more successful recruiter in the nation at his position. The Buckeyes already have a commitment from Bryson Rodgers and are hoping to add Noah Rogers and Brandon Inniss to that class as well. There have been some deep receiver classes under Hartline at Ohio State but if this four-man class comes together and is signed, it might be the best one yet and hard to top.
Inniss and Tate both play on the same 7-on-7 team, the South Florida Express and have developed a friendship both playing high school football in the state of Florida.
Tate knows the Midwest well, growing up in Chicago before moving to Bradenton (Fla.) to enroll at IMG Academy. It will be a homecoming of sorts to come back to the region to play his college ball.
We will have more on this exciting news including the impact of what this means for the Ohio State recruiting class in addition to what Tate will bring to the program.
This one for the city
— Carnell Tate ¹⁷ (@carnelltate_) June 20, 2022pic.twitter.com/NUU22zp1sc
