It’s been a while, friends and neighbors. The lacrosse world never sleeps, and the lengthy interval between posts means that we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Including a humdinger of an opportunity for Ohio State men’s lacrosse that would catapult the Buckeyes into frontrunners for Memorial Day if it comes to pass. It’s a doozy of a rumor, and I’ve now run out of old-timey slang to throw into this introduction, so we'll move on through. Hold onto your butts, we’re going rapidfire on information.

Fall Ball

The fallball season has come and gone, with the Buckeyes having quite a few pieces missing from the offensive group this year. Ohio State’s highest rated recruit ever, and two of the grad transfer middies, missed all or part of the fall with injuries. Khalif Hocker is recovering from an ACL tear, while the injuries to the transfers are unknown. The defensive unit remains intact, with no big injuries to report. This is good. The final scrimmage of the year, against maybe the most talented team in the country of North Carolina, was a lopsided loss for the Buckeyes.

Final scores weren’t readily available for any of the fallball games (that I could find), however rumors put the Tar Heels at 20 goals in the final game. I said in the summer recap thread that I won’t make season predictions based on fall ball. And I still won’t. That said, several posters on 11W (love you guys) mentioned serious faceoff issues. The faceoff dot, barring help from one of the new freshmen, is the only phase of the game that could derail what is shaping up to be another historic season of Buckeye men’s lacrosse. Ohio State HAS to be at 50% against Power 2 teams to get through the conference schedule and the national tournament the way they should.

Fail that, and the Buckeyes are underachieving again with the most loaded roster in the history the program. There’s one thing needing to be fixed, and if Ohio State can do that, there’s going to be a lot of cheerleading from me this upcoming season. If not, I’ve decided to become much, much worse.

2027 Recruiting

The Buckeyes are sitting pretty for the 2027 recruiting cycle with some serious talent accumulated on the commitment board. By my count, there are 7 top 100 players on the list, as evaluated by Inside Lacrosse. There’s not currently a 5-star on the board, however 7 top 100 guys is pretty darn outstanding. I’ve been pretty critical of the recruiting in the past, but the new rules imposed by the House settlement have benefitted Ohio State in a really big way. The Buckeyes are finally hitting New York and New England prep schools pretty hard, with some Midwest guys sprinkled in.

Max Eynon is the highest rated recruit, at #30, continuing the Buckeyes’ excellent goalie recruiting over the past few cycles. Henry Oakey, ranked #70, is the only attackman currently committed, which is somewhat fascinating. The Buckeyes usually take attackmen and make them middies of some sort. If this is a new philosophy in the recruiting game, I think it makes some serious sense. Going from attack to midfield, especially at the DI level, is not easy. The athletic demands are night and day different from high school. I’m excited to see how the current commits develop over the coming years.

Signing Day

Interestingly, Ohio State has really pulled back on its pageantry for signing day. Two years ago, the Buckeyes had custom videos from the entire staff talking about the commits. Now, they’re getting a very short video, spread throughout the day. It kind of takes the fun out of it, so I’m just going to cover the day here in this post, instead of making a long post for each player.

The Buckeyes secured the signature of 15 players who will matriculate to Ohio State in 2026. In a running theme, the top ranked talent is not present, but the Buckeyes have some incredible depth. And, while that sounds like a slight, it shouldn’t be taken as one. The lacrosse ranking system is pretty inconsistent outside of a few can’t-miss guys. Plenty of top 25 guys will play nothing more than a few meaningless minutes in blowouts.

Ohio State’s best looking offensive player is James Finch. A Floridian, Finch continues the St. Thomas Aquinas to Ohio State pipeline for athletes. Ranked #34 currently by Inside Lacrosse, Finch is everything you want in a dodging offensive player. Rugged, quick, able to finish or feed, Finch has all the tools you’re looking for in an attackman. That includes production against proven opposition, having scored goals against high school powers like Boys Latin while playing for STA.

Defensively, the Buckeyes have a pair of top 100 poles coming in, and a top 100 goalie. Cooper Heilig and Joe Florada are great defenders who will join the Buckeyes in Columbus from two of the best prep leagues in the country. And Gabe James is a goalie from Texas who is silky smooth when making saves. Hard not to like what they’re doing there, given all the departures we’ll see on the defensive side of the ball after the 2026 season comes to a close.

BIG News

As Jamesgandle teased, and has been rumored elsewhere, the Buckeyes could (should?) be adding an absolutely MASSIVE transfer to the team this upcoming season. Based on everything I can find, including a tweet from the head man himself, Russell Melendez is likely transferring to the Buckeyes. The rumor mill, tweet from Nick Myers, and social media activity all point towards this being announced imminently. I’m not going to tell you it is certain. But I’d also be shocked if it didn’t happen.

For those who need context, Melendez is an absolutely tremendous talent at attack who sports a healthy .372 shooting percentage for his time at Johns Hopkins. That includes a wild .452 mark last season in an injury shortened year. His best season was 2023, where he scored 37 goals for the Jays in 17 games played. Melendez won an appeal earlier this month for more time in the college ranks due to injury at Marquette.

If/when this is announced, this team HAS to make it to the Final Four. Just has to. Literally anything less than that sort of season is absolutely unacceptable with the talent on hand. Last year’s offense was the best we’ve ever seen at Ohio State. This year’s offense, with Melendez added to the mix, would be even better on paper. You can’t suit up all these players and not get a deep run. Just can’t happen.

It's a topsy-turvy world these days. And for once, gloriously, things are coming up Buckeye at every turn. I’m completely stoked for 2026, regardless of what happens with Melendez. And adding him would only make things that much better. Let’s. Freaking. Go.