Tag: Zahir Mathis

Zahir Mathis, a five-star prospect, decommits from Ohio State football

Ohio State football had one of the best defensive ends in the Class of 2025, but it no longer does as Zahir Mathis has decomitted.

Zahir Mathis has decommited from Ohio State. He announced his decision on Monday and still appears to have the Buckeyes as a top school despite opening back up his recruitment.

Penn State seems to be the strong favorite as Mathis is from Philadelphia, but there could be many teams eyeing the four-star prospect. He had multiple people recruiting him from Alabama, so there is potential the Crimson Tide are able to scoop up the four-star defensive end.

Mathis is ranked as the 16th-best edge rusher in the Class of 2025 per 247Sports. That said, here’s his decision via Twitter/X.

The Buckeyes don’t have many incoming options for the Class of 2025 on the defensive line, so having Mathis decommit should sting some.

Mathis could’ve been alongside Alabama native Zion Grady, the 9th-best EDGE rusher in the class who is committed to Ohio State. Grady committed to Ohio State in June.

The Buckeyes still do have numerous four-star commits coming to Columbus next season with a class spearheaded by quarterback Tavern St. Clair, a five-star prospect and the top-rated Ohio State recruit. Ohio State will have a slew of talented players returning on both sides of the field as well.

Pennsylvania’s top ’25 edge rusher backs off commitment to Ohio State, can Penn State swoop in?

One of the top players in Pennsylvania has backed off his commitment to Ohio State.

Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] likes to keep some of the top recruits in Pennsylvania in the commonwealth, and he may have a second chance to keep one of the top players in the Class of 2025 from leaving the state. [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag], a four-star edge rusher from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia announced he is backing off his commitment to Ohio State just weeks before the start of the early signing period for college football.

“After much consideration, I’ve decided to reopen my recruitment and decommit from Ohio State,” Mathis said in a message posted on his social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I appreciate Coach Day, Coach Johnson and all the coaches at Ohio State. They are still a top school for me. This is a life decision. Please respect my decision!”

As indicated by Mathis in his message, Ohio State is still a top contender to secure his commitment whenever the time comes for him to lock in his commitment. According to the updated On3 recruiting prediction machine, the Buckeyes are still the overwhelming favorite with a 97.7% chance of receiving his commitment. We will see if that changes at all in light of recent events, but the door is now officially open for Penn State to try keeping one of the state’s top recruits closer to home.

Mathis is the no. 4 overall player in Pennsylvania according to 247Sports and the state’s top-ranked player according to Rivals and ESPN. Naturally, he would be a dream pickup for Penn State if they were able to receive a commitment from Mathis. But Mathis will have plenty of suitors ready to jump in line with his announcement of a de-commitment.

Penn State was the first offer to Mathis back in May 2021.

The early signing period for the Class of 2025 will run from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6.

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Penn State continues to push for elite 2025 edge rusher Zahir Mathis

Could Penn State manage to pull off a flip of this Ohio State defensive commit?

Penn State is looking to finish strong in the 2025 cycle after it’s been a strange recruiting process compared to what has occurred for them the past few years.

With multiple decommitments and flips that have taken place, the Nittany Lions are making a final push to land some of their most high-profile targets who originally committed elsewhere.

The majority of the players they are pursuing have been documented, and they were able to pull off one of them already by flipping three-star cornerback Josh Johnson, but there is another recruit who Penn State is continuing to go after.

That would be in-state prospect and current Ohio State commit [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag].

Ranked No. 73 overall in the 2025 class and third in the state of Pennsylvania, the four-star made up his mind early when he announced his commitment to the Buckeyes back in January.

However, the Nittany Lions have stayed on him, getting him back to campus twice during the summer. These efforts seem to be paying off as Sean Fitz of BlueWhiteIllustrated has described Penn State as being on “semi-equal footing” when it comes to where they stand compared to Ohio State (subscription required).

It should be pointed out that Mathis has shown no signs of moving off his commitment despite his two trips to Happy Valley, and with his official visit to Columbus coming up on Oct. 26, there is a chance that solidifies his decision and he shuts everything down before National Signing Day.

But, based on what Fitz is hearing from either the Penn State or Mathis camp, they have put themselves in a good position to potentially flip the Philadelphia native if he comes out of his trip to Ohio State still not fully sold.

This continues to be something to monitor, and while there isn’t as much confidence this will get home like some others who the Nittany Lions are targeting, it’s still a great sign they are being considered nonetheless.

Penn State working to flip Ohio State edge rusher commit

Penn State is working hard to flip this in-state edge rusher from his Ohio State commitment.

It’s been a great couple weeks for the Penn State Nittany Lions on the recruiting trail.

After getting some tough news regarding some of their top targets, they were able to land many talented recruits they were pursuing and even won some hotly-contested battles.

With [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff continuing to pursue top uncommitted players in the 2025 cycle so they can secure a top ranked class, there are still some recruits committed elsewhere who they will try to flip.

One is [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag], a four-star edge rusher from Philadelphia who was once rated as the top player in the state before getting overtaken by Matt Zollers.

With Franklin’s emphasis on keeping the top in-state recruits in Pennsylvania to play for Penn State, it was tough when Mathis announced he had committed to Ohio State.

Rated as the 60th-best player in the country and No. 5 at his position by 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder would be a huge boost for the Nittany Lions as [autotag]Deion Barnes[/autotag] continues to put together his edge rushing group.

Until a player officially signs his letter of intent, they can decommit and decide to play football elsewhere.

According to Tyler Calvaruso of 247Sports, he thinks Penn State will continue to pursue Mathis, especially after he took an official visit to Happy Valley on June 21 with his high school teammate and Nittany Lions commit Jabree Wallace-Coleman (subscription required).

What comes out of it will be seen, but it never hurts for Franklin and his staff to continue working on the talented edge rusher to see if he might be interested in joining this program when it’s time to make things official.

The prospect of staying home and having his teammate with him might be alluring.

Wallace-Coleman and Penn State weren’t highly involved back in January when Mathis made his first decision to join the Buckeyes.

Maybe things have changed now and he might be considering decommitting and signing with the Nittany Lions.

It’s worth it to keep trying until he officially signs on with another program.

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Report: Ohio State 2025 commit will visit rival Big Ten school this weekend

Not great news for the Buckeyes. #GoBucks

As we all know with recruiting that it’s not over until the prospect is signed, and Ohio State football is going through that right now.

Not only are the Buckeyes trying to flip commitments from other schools, they are having to fend off other programs for their verbals. One of those is 2025 Philadelphia defensive end, [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag].

According to this report by 247Sports Brian Dohn (subscription required), the 6-foot, 6-inch, 225-pound pass rusher will take an official visit to Penn State this weekend.

This should be viewed as significant, as he’s a local product for the Nittany Lions. Ohio State would hate to see the nation’s No. 60 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings flip to a rival Big Ten program.

The recruitment of Mathis is looking like it’s going to go down to the wire, with the Buckeyes having to stave off hard charging Penn State.

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Ohio State defensive end commit Zahir Mathis shows off his impressive gains

Mathis has been hitting the weights hard this offseason

Although Ohio State football commit, [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag], is ranked extremely high — No. 58 overall and the sixth edge rusher according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings — one of the biggest knocks for him as a prospect was his weight.

Standing 6-foot, 6-inches, Mathis has the frame to continue to add on weight and it looks like he accomplished that goal since the last season has ended. He is listed at 225-pounds which is solid, but for him to make a mark early in his career he needed to but bigger.

In a post Mathis shared on social media, it very much looks like he has done exactly that, as he looks significantly bigger.

Ohio State coach Larry Johnson responds to negative recruiting him
Credit: Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch

The Ohio State coaching staff must be very pleased with this development, as it is looking more and more like Mathis will be able to see the field early and often in his Buckeye career.

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Ohio State Football Recruiting: Updated list of edge rusher offers in the 2025 class

Looking at Ohio State’s current edge rusher offers for 2025

This offseason has been a strong one for Ohio State football.  With multiple transfers coming in as well as multiple stars on both sides of the ball forgoing the NFL draft to come back to the Buckeyes for the 2024 season, hopes are high among Buckeye nation.

Ohio State has also gotten some good news on the recruiting front in the offseason. The Buckeyes wrapped up one of the best 2024 classes in college football by bringing in Julian Sayin, the top ranked quarterback in the class who transferred from Alabama after Nick Saban’s retirement.

The Buckeyes have also landed 2025 class commitments from five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez, and highly rated four-star edge rusher Zahir Mathis in January.

The Buckeyes have offered nine edge rushers in the 2025 class. We’ll walk through each of those using On3 who is one of the top college football recruiting resources that tracks player rankings on all four main websites and provides predictions, insights, and NIL valuations.

Scouts view: What to expect from Ohio State’s latest commit, DE Zahir Mathis

The Buckeyes got a great one in Mathis. #GoBucks

Ohio State football gained a massive commitment on Wednesday when 2025 Pennsylvania defensive end, [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag], joined the class.

The 6-foot, 6-inch, 225-pound pass rusher is one of the best prospects in the country, ranking as the No. 5 at his position and 37th overall according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Mathis had a who’s who offer list, showing that the Buckeyes still could recruit the position even though they had missed more than a few of their top targets over the last few cycles.

The skill set that Mathis will bring with him is tantalizing, especially after getting a chance to review his junior highlight film. Here is what to expect from the latest Ohio State commit when he arrives in Columbus.

Ohio State lands 4-star edge Zahir Mathis

Zahir Mathis commits to Ohio State.

Zahir Mathis committed to Ohio State on Wednesday, giving the Buckeyes another big-time presence off the edge.

Mathis, from Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia), is a consensus four-star recruit and another massive pick-up for Ohio State. He is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. He is the No. 41 player in the nation according to Rivals, where is also the second-best edge in the class.

Rivals ranks Mathis as Pennsylvania’s top recruit in the 2025 class. ESPN has him No. 48 nationally.

He had offers from Penn State, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Rutgers among others

The class of 2025 recruit had 52 total tackles and five tackles for a loss. He had three sacks during the season as Imhotep went 15-0.

He confirmed his commitment via X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter):

 

Mathis joins a strong Ohio State class that is now fourth in the nation with six players having given a verbal. The Buckeyes got a major boost last week when David Sanchez, a five-star defensive back, committed to the program during the All-American Bowl.

Ohio State lands high 4-star 2025 Pennsylvania defensive end

A midweek BOOM! for the Buckeyes

Over the course of the last few recruiting cycles, Ohio State football has struggled getting high-level defensive ends.

The tide is looking like it’s starting to turn in the 2025 cycle, as the Buckeyes got a commitment from Pennsylvania star edge rusher [autotag]Zahir Mathis[/autotag]. The 6-foot, 6-inch 225-pound end is ranked as the No. 5 edge and 37th overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, just outside of 5-star range.

The Buckeyes beat out multiple SEC schools like Alabama, Florida and Georgia along with Big Ten foes Michigan, Penn State and USC. It’s a massive recruiting win for Ohio State, considering the misses in the previous cycles.

Mathis is commitment No. 6 for the Buckeyes in the 2025 cycle in what is looking like another banner class for Ohio State.

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