Could Ohio State be on the verge of flipping another 5-star wide receiver? (2024)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State’s 2025 wide receiver class has come together much slower than we’ve grown to expect since Brian Hartline took over, but part of that is many of the nation’s top players committed elsewhere early in the process.

That’s no longer the case with summer official visits right around the corner. The first domino fell earlier in the spring when five-star Jamie Ffrench decommitted from Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement. Now another has fallen and it didn’t a coaching departure for it to happen.

Dakorien Moore is the nation’s No. 3 player and top wide receiver having been committed to LSU for well over the year. He and Bryce Underwood — the nation’s top player and quarterback — gave the Tigers the type of future that suggested they’d be the program’s next great quarterback-wide receiver tandem. But Moore has still been actively visiting other schools, even spending some time in Columbus this spring which always left the door open that maybe he wouldn’t make it to Signing Day.

That idea became reality Thursday night when the five-star announced he’d be decommitting.

Moore’s decision officially reopens the race as Hartline tries to go for seven-straight cycles where he lands a player who at any point during his recruitment was considered the nation’s top wide receiver. Julian Fleming (2020), Emeka Egbuka (2021) and Jeremiah Smith (2024) all held onto that spot through Signing Day and the final version of their class rankings. Caleb Burton (2022) — now at Auburn — and Brandon Inniss (2023) eventually lost that spot though Inniss at least still held onto his five-star status. Then there’s Chris Henry Jr. in the 2026 class who’s already claimed the top overall spot as an Ohio native now living in California.

The 2025 class is yet to really throw a haymaker as we head into June. Its first member of four-star Jayvan Boggs, who chose to reopen things in March after first committing in October in favor of flirting with a few other options. He was quickly replaced by De’zie Jones days later.

The four-star New Jersey native is one of 12 players in OSU’s second-ranked 2025 recruiting class.

Jones needs company. The immediate future of Hartline’s room is set thanks to Emeka Egbka being the only player expected to play significant snaps in 2024 who’s even NFL Draft-eligible after the season. But Hartline has yet to have what would be described as an underwhelming class. With a few high-level options back on the table, that doesn’t have to start now.

The fight for Ffrench is trying to get him not only out of Florida but SEC territory in general. For Moore, it’ll be about convincing another five-star from Texas that staying home is an underrated experience. Even if the Longhorn program he’d be stealing him from is in a much better place than it was when he did it with Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2020 or Day did it with Garrett Wilson in 2019.

Moore’s already came to Columbus this spring. The next step is getting him back here in June.

Hartline is looking to continue what’s been an unprecedented start to a college football coach’s career on the recruiting trail. With Moore decommitting from LSU, another chance to keep adding to that just came back to the table.

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