Five-Star Targets David Gabriel Georges, Marcus Fakatou and Benny Easter Jr. Headline Ohio State’s First Official Visit Weekend for 2027 Class

By Dan Hope on May 29, 2026 at 11:15 am
David Gabriel Georges
David Gabriel Georges
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Ohio State is prioritizing quality over quantity with its first official visit weekend of the summer.

The Buckeyes will have just four prospects on campus this weekend as they host their first of four official visit weekends over four weeks. But all four of those official visitors are elite prospects who rank at or near the top of the Buckeyes’ board in the 2027 recruiting class at their respective positions.

One of those visitors is already committed to Ohio State: Prince Goldsby, the seventh-ranked linebacker in the 2027 class, who makes his official visit just a few days after committing to the Buckeyes on Memorial Day. This weekend will serve as a celebration of that commitment as the Buckeyes show Goldsby why they made him one of their top linebacker priorities in the class alongside fellow four-star commit Quinton Cypher.

Each of Ohio State’s other three official visitors this weekend are five-star prospects in 247Sports’ composite rankings: Running back David Gabriel Georges, defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou and wide receiver Benny Easter Jr. Gabriel Georges and Fakatou are both uncommitted prospects who are planning to choose from lists of elite schools later this summer, while Easter is a Texas Tech commit that Ohio State is attempting to flip.

As Ohio State’s first official visits of the year begin Friday, we take a look below at all four prospects who will be on campus this weekend and why landing each of them is a major priority for the Buckeyes.

RB David Gabriel Georges

Carlos Locklyn and Ohio State have made no effort to camouflage that Gabriel Georges is their top running back target in the 2027 class. The Buckeyes have heavily recruited the Canadian running back since offering him two years ago, hosting him at Ohio State for several unofficial visits and camps while also traveling to visit him at every opportunity – most recently sending their entire offensive coaching staff to his high school (The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee) to visit him earlier this month.

There’s good reason why Ohio State has gone all-in on Gabriel Georges. Ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect in the 2027 class, Gabriel Georges already looks like a grown man who could be a collegiate star right now. After rushing for 1,756 yards and 27 touchdowns last season – a season that earned him National Player of the Year honors from MaxPreps – Gabriel Georges was recently clocked running a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at 220 pounds.

Ohio State’s recruiting efforts appear to be paying off with Gabriel Georges, as Ohio State is considered the frontrunner to land him entering official visits. Well-known recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong of Rivals is among those who have predicted Gabriel Georges will ultimately commit to the Buckeyes. This recruitment remains far from over, though, as Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia will also host DGG for official visits ahead of his scheduled July 22 commitment. Tennessee is viewed as Ohio State’s top competition given its proximity to Gabriel Georges’ high school and its proclivity for making big NIL offers to top recruits.

Because Ohio State has made such a concerted effort to land Gabriel Georges, this is arguably the Buckeyes’ most important official visit of the summer. While they’re still pursuing a couple of other running backs, with four-star prospects Nigel Newkirk and Jayden Miles scheduled to make official visits in June, they’d have ground to make up with any other running back in the class after making Gabriel Georges their top RB target for the entire cycle.

DL Marcus Fakatou

Fakatou told Rivals in March that he nearly committed to Ohio State after visiting the Buckeyes this spring. Ohio State is hoping Fakatou actually commits to the Buckeyes before he leaves campus this weekend.

The five-star defensive lineman from Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, California, who has the versatility to play both defensive tackle and defensive end in college, enters official visit season as Ohio State’s top uncommitted target along the defensive line. The Buckeyes rolled out the red carpet for Fakatou from the moment he arrived in Columbus, sending a convoy of coaches to John Glenn Columbus International Airport to greet Fakatou as he walked off his plane on Thursday.

Ohio State is still viewed as the frontrunner to land Fakatou entering official visits, but he’s also still considering Georgia, Texas, Oregon and Notre Dame. All of them are scheduled to host him for official visits over the next three weeks, though the Buckeyes will hope to convince Fakatou to shut down his recruitment this weekend. If they don’t, they’ll have to make a strong impression to ensure they remain in front for Fakatou, the No. 32 overall prospect in the class, as he completes his other visits.

The Buckeyes were originally scheduled to host multiple defensive linemen for official visits this weekend, but visits for four-star defensive tackles Brayden Parks and Nate Kamba were ultimately canceled while three-star DT Waylon Wooten committed to Georgia. As such, Larry Johnson’s full focus this weekend will be on recruiting Fakatou, who would join fellow five-star prospect DJ Jacobs and four-star defensive end Wyatt Smith in Ohio State’s defensive line class if he commits to the Buckeyes.

WR Benny Easter Jr.

Easter has been committed to Texas Tech since November, but Ohio State wouldn’t be bringing him to town for an official visit if it didn’t believe it had a real chance to flip Easter away from that commitment. 

Easter has been one of Ohio State’s top wide receiver targets in the 2027 class since Cortez Hankton became the Buckeyes’ new wide receivers coach at the start of the year. Ohio State was one of a flurry of top schools to offer Easter in January after a standout junior season in which the 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver caught 89 passes for 1,309 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Ohio State isn’t the only school making a serious push to flip Easter. He’s already made an official visit to LSU and will make an official visit to Ole Miss next week, and he could still sign with Texas Tech in the end. But as Ohio State looks to add a second five-star receiver in the 2027 class alongside Jamier Brown, Easter looks as though he could be emerging as the most likely candidate to fill that spot, even with longtime targets Monshun Sales and Eric McFarland III expected to make official visits in June.

Brown was originally scheduled to make his official visit to Ohio State alongside Easter this weekend, but will now make his official visit from June 19-21. Brown, the only receiver currently committed to Ohio State in the 2027 class, said earlier this month that he has shut down his recruitment and will not make official visits to any other schools this summer.

LB Prince Goldsby

Goldsby’s commitment to Ohio State on Monday means James Laurinaitis has already built the core of his 2027 linebacker class entering the heart of recruiting season. While Ohio State was expected to pursue a couple of other big fish at linebacker this summer by hosting top-100 prospects Kaden Henderson and AJ Randle, those official visits are no longer expected to happen now that Goldsby is in the class.

A Kansas City product who recorded 83 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in just 10 games last season, Goldsby is a versatile prospect who projects to play a similar hybrid linebacker/edge rusher role to that which Arvell Reese played for the Buckeyes last season. While the No. 101 overall prospect in the class kept his recruitment quiet, Ohio State’s decision to accept a commitment from Goldsby before the start of official visit season shows just how highly regarded he is by Laurinaitis.

Ohio State could still add one more linebacker to its 2027 class. Glenville’s Kaylon Bailey, who’s expected to make an official visit to Ohio State next weekend, is viewed as the top candidate to fill that spot. Now that Goldsby is in the fold, though, Laurinaitis’ most important job for the 2027 class is simply keeping the commitments he already has – a process that will be focused on Goldsby this weekend as the Buckeyes show him and his family everything Ohio State has to offer.

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