Over the weekend, 4-star DL Karlos May out of Birmingham committed to Ohio State. A relatively innocuous commitment on its own, it sparked a conversation about the Buckeyes opening up the state of Alabama as a "pipeline state" in recruiting. Anybody who has ever played one of the NCAA football video games understands that term.
For those who haven't, a "pipeline state" is one you can count on in every recruiting cycle to produce talent that ends up at your school. You get a state to become a pipeline by having consistent success in landing players from there.
This conversation got started thanks to an article written by Eleven Warriors on Ohio State's recent success recruiting in the state of Alabama during the Kalen DeBoer era, something they had no success doing while Nick Saban was roaming the sidelines in Tuscaloosa:
Before Nick Saban’s retirement in 2024, Ohio State had only had two players from Alabama all-time. Karlos May is now set to become OSU’s seventh player from Alabama in four years. https://t.co/LgBZdmMAuJ
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) July 18, 2026
Ohio State's recruiting success in Alabama not as big of a deal as it's being made
This is another one of those arguments being used to downplay DeBoer as Alabama's head coach. Clearly, something is rotten in Denmark if Ohio State is able to come in and have success recruiting in a state it has never been able to recruit in.
Or, perhaps it's just another sign of the era we are in? Couldn't be that, could it?
Players are less apt to care about staying in-state now when there's significant money on the table from other schools. Ohio State is one of the biggest spenders, and they are going to pull recruits out of every state. Plus, Alabama is a national program, and they aren't focused simply on securing their own borders. They will recruit the best players, regardless of where they come from.
Let's take a look at the actual players Ohio State has landed instead of just the numbers. Which one would you consider "misses" by the Crimson Tide?
The first of the seven is Quinshon Judkins, who went to Ole Miss out of high school and was not heavily pursued by either Alabama or Auburn as a prep recruit. Lane Kiffin identified him early and landed a player who turned out to be quite good. Ohio State threw a lot of money at him, and he transferred to the Buckeyes for the 2024 season. Judkins was a 3-star recruit in the class of 2022, aka one recruited by Saban.
Two of the others are Alabama transfers James Smith and Qua Russaw, two former 5-star recruits who never performed up to their recruiting ranking with the Crimson Tide. Both Smith and Russaw, always a package deal, wanted significant raises without significant production. Alabama wouldn't bite, and they both entered the portal before landing in Columbus.
Smith was a solid player, but never the dominant force in the middle he was expected to be. Russaw had been Wally Pipp'd by Yhonzae Pierre off the edge, and Alabama saw his future more off-the-ball than on, something he wasn't interested in.
In terms of the actual high school recruits Ohio State has landed, there are four of them across three recruiting cycles:
- Zion Grady
- Turbo Rogers
- Emmanuel Ruffin
- Karlos May
Two of the four - Ruffin and May - are big nose tackles that were never prioritized by Alabama. Ruffin never had a committable offer despite wanting to stay in-state to play for Alabama. Neither guy was seen as a fit for Kane Wommack's defensive system.
Turbo Rogers was once committed to Alabama when he was the No. 1 high school RB recruit in the country, but his stock fell over his final two high school seasons, and he reopened his recruitment in the fall of 2024 after a lengthy commitment to the Crimson Tide.
Rogers finished the cycle as the No. 5 overall RB and landed at Ohio State. Who did Alabama land instead? Mississippi's AK Dear, the No. 2 RB in the composite for that cycle. I don't think the staff - or Alabama fans - were sweating that trade.
Like Dear, Rogers took a redshirt during his freshman season. Unlike Dear, Rogers never even saw a snap.
The only disappointing loss of the four was Grady, a 4-star EDGE in the 2025 class. He seemed like a foregone conclusion to land in Tuscaloosa when Saban was in charge, but never seemed to resonate with the new staff in the same manner.
Grady had a solid freshman season as a role player for Ohio State and will likely turn into a good player during his college career.
DeBoer and Alabama landed 4-star Justin Hill out of Ohio State's backyard in Cincinnati instead. Hill had a strong freshman season as a legitimate contributor for the Tide's defense. I think Alabama is happy with that trade, too. Hill appears poised for a big sophomore season.
Don't get lost in numbers. On the surface, the numbers look concerning. But when you really dig into them, it becomes clear that they are much ado about nothing.
Add us as a preferred source on Google