It was a surprise when Georgia safety Jontae Gilbert decided to commit to Ohio State almost a year ago.
The fact the he committed to the Buckeyes wasn’t a surprise, it was more the timing of the pledge. The 6-foot, 1-inch, 175 pound defensive back made his decision extremely early for a class of 2025 prospect.
This meant that the Ohio State coaching staff would have to continue to recruit Gilbert hard until he signs, nearly 2 years from his commitment day. It also meant fending off the big-time SEC schools that typically recruit his state well.
Not many expected Tennessee to be a challenger to flip the Buckeye commit, but Gilbert arrived at the Rivals NextGen Pro Day Camp wearing Volunteer gloves.
2025 four-star safety and Ohio State commit in the Tennessee gloves – one of many teams trying to flip him 🧐@Dale_Dowden / @TennesseeRivals pic.twitter.com/oZI1IaBdg6
— Rivals (@Rivals) June 28, 2023
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we have seen this with a Buckeye commit wearing another schools gloves, see Kayin Lee from last year’s cycle. We all knew this was going to be a fight until the end with Gilbert, but didn’t really expect Tennessee to be a school challenging Ohio State.
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