Final Call: Elite linebacker prospect, Ohio State target Riley Pettijohn ready to announce commitment

COLUMBUS — Ohio State already has two linebackers committed to its 2025 class. Could a third be on the way?

Four-star McKinney (Texas) linebacker Riley Pettijohn will announce his commitment Saturday afternoon and the Buckeyes are a finalist. Texas, Texas A&M and USC will also have hats on the table later today.

Pettijohn is the No. 33 overall prospect and the No. 2 linebacker according to the On3 Industry Rankings. On3 has Pettijohn as the No. 42 overall prospect and the No. 2 linebacker. His recruitment went from Texas lock to a highly contested battle. Where does Ohio State stand a few hours before his announcement?

Lettermen Row breaks it down.

Ohio State

Ohio State has always been a contender for Pettijohn, but the Buckeyes are now sitting in the driver’s seat with a few hours left to go in the race.

The priority linebackers coach James Laurinaitis had made Pettijohn over the last six weeks is nothing short of impressive. The family was certainly impressed with everything the Buckeyes showed during the official visit. From the development aspect to life after football, Ohio State has time and time again shown the value of its program to the Pettijohn family.

Oddly enough, most insiders outside of Ohio had not been given the Buckeyes the credit they deserved until recently. As Lettermen Row members know, we have been all over this recruitment. Our own Alex Gleitman put in a prediction into the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine on the Buckeyes to land Pettijohn.

We’ll find out soon enough.

USC

This at first started off as a Texas-Ohio State battle, and then it became an Ohio State-USC battle. The Trojans haven’t put on one of the best defensive units in college in some time, but there is belief that there is a change coming, finally.

Take it from Pettijohn, who said the following to On3’s Steve Wiltfong.

“Coach (D’Anton) Lynn, I saw what he did with UCLA. The way he turned their defense all the way around and being a Top 10 defense in college football. When talking ball with him it was cool getting to see his scheme and his plan for me and how I fit into their defense.

“(Coach Riley) I just like the people he brought around the program as in the coaches to help improve the defense. I feel like they have a shot at winning a lot of games.”

Texas A&M

Some people think this is an Ohio State-USC battle and then there are some who think this is an Ohio State-Texas A&M battle.

The Aggies weren’t a serious candidate until Pettijohn made his official visit to College Station the June 21 weekend. Pettijohn has a great relationship with TAMU defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jay Bateman. McKinney to College Station is only three hours and 30 minutes apart. Distance to home hasn’t been a major factor, but it doesn’t hurt either.

Texas

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Pettijohn’s recruitment is how Texas flew too close to the sun.

Most recruiting insiders, myself included, thought Pettijohn would end up in Austin wearing the burnt orange. The sudden cooling from the Longhorns has been interesting to watch from afar.

Final Call

This could really go anywhere, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pettijohn commit to Ohio State in a few hours from now. If it’s not Ohio State, I’m going to go with USC.

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