Last month, the Ohio State Buckeyes landed superstar Alabama Crimson Tide safety Caleb Downs out of the transfer portal in what was one of the most high-profile recruitments in the history of the transfer portal. It was a major win for the Buckeyes on the recruiting trail, but it also got the Buckeyes in a little bit of trouble from the NCAA.
According to documents obtained from Joey Kaufman of The Columbus Dispatch, an Ohio State football staff member committed a recruiting violation when they commented “Great News!!” on the commitment announcement from Caleb Downs on social media.
“It was in violation of NCAA rule 13.10.1.1, a bylaw that prohibits schools from commenting publicly about a recruit until he signs an aid agreement,” Kaufman explained for The Columbus Dispatch.
Kaufman had to connect the dots a little bit to determine that the violation was in relation to the Downs recruitment, but there is no other player that fit the description in the documents.
“The report does not name the transfer, but it noted the date of his commitment was Jan. 19 and that he had entered the portal two days earlier, a timeline that aligns with Downs’ recruitment. No other transfer had committed to the Buckeyes on that date,” Kaufman wrote.
It’s worth noting that this incident was self-reported by Ohio State and was only considered a level III violation, which is the least severe of all NCAA infractions. So Ohio State is unlikely to receive much – if any – additional punishment after the program addressed the issue by providing its staff with education related to social media and recruiting.
