Ohio State football lands commitment from five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate
Ohio State has reeled in its first five-star recruit in the class of 2023.
Carnell Tate, a wide receiver who played at the IMG Academy last season, announced his commitment to the Buckeyes on Monday, picking them over three other finalists that included LSU, Notre Dame and Tennessee.
The Buckeyes were the favorites to land Tate and had him near the top of their recruiting board for the last year, but had to hold off a late push by the Volunteers.
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Much of the speculation about Tennessee’s efforts centered around the program’s aggressive approach to fostering name, image and likeness opportunities, a factor in securing a commitment in this cycle from Nico Iamaleava, a five-star quarterback from Southern California.
Few programs, though, have been as well-positioned to land highly ranked wide receiver prospects in recent years as Ohio State.
Based on the composite rankings compiled by 247Sports, Tate is poised to become the fifth five-star receiver to sign with the Buckeyes over the last five cycles, following Emeka Egbuka in 2021, Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2020 and Garrett Wilson in 2019. Egbuka and Fleming were also the highest-ranked receiver recruit in their classes.
Tate is the third-ranked receiver in the 2023 class and the No. 28 overall prospect.
The Buckeyes are also in pursuit of Brandon Inniss, another five-star who is the second-ranked receiver in the class and visited Columbus this past weekend.
Before Tate transferred to the IMG Academy, the prep powerhouse in Bradenton, Florida, last year, he grew up in Chicago.
He attended Marist High School and caught 28 passes for 444 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman in 2019, but his sophomore season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Before Tate announced his pledge, the highest-ranked commitment in the 2023 cycle for the Buckeyes was Luke Montgomery, a four-star offensive lineman from Findlay. He's ranked as the fourth-best offensive tackle and No. 42 overall prospect in the cycle.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Carnell Tate, five-star WR, commits to Ohio State football
