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Ohio State staffers talk about end of recruiting dead period
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The recruiting dead period stretched over a full calendar year. Coaches and staff members across the country had to get creative in their process while official and unofficial visits were off limits, as was live evaluations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 1, that all comes to an end. The NCAA will allow schools to resume official and unofficial visits in recruiting, which should really open up the floodgates this summer.
Friday, Ohio State assistant director of player personnel Mark Pantoni and director of on-campus recruiting Erin Dunston spoke with reporters about the opportunities official visits will create for the program and prospective student-athletes on the football side.
Ohio State has already done an incredible job on the recruiting trail without official visits. Currently, the Buckeyes own the nation’s No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the nation, behind only Georgia. There are 12 players committed to the class, 10 of which are either 4- or 5-star athletes.
With the 2021 class, Ohio State once again had the No. 2 ranked class nationally, behind Alabama.
Here’s what Pantoni and Dunston had to say about the end of the recruiting dead period and what it could mean for the Buckeyes this summer:
Mark Pantoni said Ohio State wanted to get every commit who could make it on campus for the first weekend of official visits, saying “They are our best recruiters” and that the commits deserve to have that opportunity first.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Mark Pantoni on the craziness coming up in June: “The month of July, my phone's probably gonna be turned off and nobody's gonna be able to track me down.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Mark Pantoni on using name, image and likeness benefits in recruiting: “We think it's a great selling point to them … We have to embrace it.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Mark Pantoni said he's spending a couple hours a day now watching film of players who entered the transfer portal.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Erin Dunston, who's in her first year as director of on-campus recruiting after previously working at Kansas, said what's impressed her so far about Ohio State's staff is how the coaches are involved with every recruit and how involved the families are in the recruiting process.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Mark Pantoni said Ohio State is encouraging 2023 prospects to visit campus on weekdays so that the staff can focus on official visits with 2022 prospects on the weekends.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Ohio State recruiting guru Mark Pantoni and director of on-campus recruiting Erin Dunston are talking about the visits OSU is finally allowed to host. Dunston said there will be 51 official visits from recruits and 150-200 unofficial ones in June.
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) May 28, 2021
Mark Pantoni said the freshman class of 2021, who already has 15 players on campus as early enrollees, is “one of the most mature groups we've ever had.”
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) May 28, 2021
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB