Ohio State Makes Cut for Five-Stars Monshun Sales, Maxwell Hiller and Marcus Fakatou As Seven Top Targets Narrow Recruitments

By Andy Anders on February 15, 2026 at 8:35 am
Monshun Sales
Monshun Sales (Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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As spring football draws near, many top prospects in the 2027 class are beginning to narrow their recruitments.

Over the past week, seven Ohio State targets in the 2027 class narrowed their top schools lists to include the Buckeyes. Some of the biggest names on Ryan Day’s big board announced updates in their recruitments.

Below, we’ve recapped all the top prospects who included Ohio State in their top schools lists over the past eight days.

Five-Star WR Monshun Sales

Brian Hartline is gone, but Ohio State could still assemble the best wide receiver recruiting class in the country for 2027 if it pairs five-star in-state commit Jamier Brown with the five-star Sales, a 6-foot-5 wideout with a reported 4.43-second 40-yard dash time. 

The Buckeyes got good news in their pursuit of Sales after Hartline’s departure this week. They made the Indiana native’s cut to four schools on Wednesday, joining Alabama, Indiana and Miami. The four powerhouses (yes, it does still feel strange to write that about the Hoosiers) will fight tooth and nail for his pledge the next several months. Sales visited Ohio State in January, shortly after the hiring of new wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton.

Five-Star IOL Maxwell Hiller

Ohio State will receive one of four official visits for Hiller, the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and No. 10 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2027, per the 247Sports composite. Adding five-star talents on the offensive line has been a rarity for the Buckeyes in the 2020s, which would make a victory in a recruitment like this all the more momentous. However, OSU appears to face an uphill climb against the rest of Hiller’s top four: Alabama, Florida and Tennessee.

The Pennsylvania product has been heavily linked to Alabama, but On3Sports’ Steve Wiltfong reported recently that Florida is trending in his recruitment of late. But an official visit means there’s real interest. Perhaps Tyler Bowen and company can punch back into the fight.

Five-Star DL Marcus Fakatou

One of Ohio State’s top defensive line targets in the class, the five-star Fakatou placed the Buckeyes in his final 10 schools alongside Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and USC.

A physical specimen at 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, Fakatou is one of the most coveted linemen in the 2027 class. He’s ranked No. 2 among defensive linemen and No. 35 overall in the 247Sports composite.

Despite playing his high school ball at Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California, Fakatou’s recruitment is a national battle. Orange is a suburb of Los Angeles and USC is making a strong push as a result, but the future star defensive lineman has already visited Notre Dame twice and both Penn State and Michigan once.

Ohio State will get the next chance to make an impression. Per 247Sports’ Brian Angulo, Fakatou will visit Columbus on March 10. One can only imagine the tandem he and defensive end DJ Jacobs, the No. 1 edge prospect in the country and a Buckeye commit, could form on the defensive line.

Four-Star DE Rashad Streets

Streets joined Fakatou to make it two top-70 defensive line prospects who included Ohio State in their top schools lists this past week. Streets, the No. 8 defensive end and No. 66 recruit in the composite, listed Alabama, Florida State, N.C. State, Oregon and South Carolina alongside the Buckeyes in his top six.

One distinct advantage Ohio State has over the field is that it holds a commitment from one of Streets’ high school teammates, four-star linebacker Quinton Cypher. The duo plays for Millbrook High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Streets has taken plenty of visits to the other schools that made his top six, however, so his recruitment is far from a done deal.

Four-Star OT Jimmy Kalis

Kalis, a 6-foot-6, 280-pound prospect ranked No. 24 at OT and No. 247 overall in the composite rankings, is among the top targets on Ohio State’s board at offensive tackle. The Pennsylvania native included the Buckeyes alongside Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Miami and Texas.

Pairing Kalis with four-star Brody McNeel would give Ohio State a solid foundation at the offensive tackle position in 2027 after it landed a top-60 in-state prospect at the position, Sam Greer, in 2026. Kalis has official visits already scheduled with Georgia, LSU and Texas, leaving work to be done for Bowen and Ohio State to land Kalis, the younger brother of former Michigan offensive lineman Kyle Kalis.

Four-Star CB Taelyn Mayo

Tim Walton is still hunting his first cornerback commitment in the class of 2027, and two of his targets trimmed their school lists down this past week. The biggest name is Mayo, the No. 12 corner and No. 135 overall prospect in the composite rankings.

Mayo is a Texas native and Ohio State will need to contend with two Texas schools in his top five, Texas A&M and Texas, if it’s to land the 6-foot-4 recruit. LSU and Oklahoma round out his list. He camped with the Buckeyes in June 2025 and maintains a close relationship with Walton. Per On3, Ohio State joins LSU and Texas A&M as the current leaders in his recruitment.

Four-Star CB Jaden Carey

The second Ohio State cornerback target to narrow his choices down this week was Carey, who placed the Buckeyes alongside Auburn, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and Oregon. The No. 38 corner and No. 356 prospect in the composite, the Buckeyes are considered a top contender for his services alongside Miami.

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