Ryan Day Could Face Transfer Portal Repercussions After Ohio State Make Big Announcement On New Admissions

The Ohio State Buckeyes had the perfect rags-to-riches kind of story in the 2024 season. From their Head coach Ryan Day being almost on the verge of losing the job to putting a smile back on the Buckeyes’ face and wrapping it up with the Championship title, Columbus witnessed everything. This season too had hit the accelerator as they came off as one of the frontrunners in the recruiting race. That’s when comes an alarming news that will leave Day’s program all topsy-turvy. More than anything else, the maximum impact is likely to be on the transfer portal.

Well, this year did start on a high note. Day and Co. have signed yet another top-five recruiting class. Ohio State officially unveiled a 26-person class (13 players on offense and 13 on defense). Every major recruiting service ranks Day’s class in the top five – it comes in at No. 3 by Rivals, No. 3 by On3 and No. 5 by 247Sports. This marks their largest class since the 2018 cycle (also 26 signees). While this indeed is news worth celebrating, looks like the happy times for the ones interested to step in Columbus are limited. On March 12, Ohio State University announced the reinstatement of the ACT/SAT requirement for all new first-year undergraduate applicants to the Columbus campus in the 2026 admissions cycle and beyond. Analyst Alexis White is not at all okay with this decision. 

On Instagram, she posted a video and shared, “You guys I’m shocked. Ohio State has just announced that they’re going to reinstate, their testing policy for fall 2026 admissions. What that means is it means that if you are a junior and you are planning on applying to Ohio State, you have to submit test scores.” Now this decision hitting up all of a sudden did not sit well with White. She thus stated, “They have to give you at least two years lead time.” After all, the students who are planning to commit to Day’s squad are totally unprepared for the test. All they thought would do the work in landing in Columbus was their athletic skills. Now that academia too is stressed, it might propel them to walk on their commitments, which could be a big blow for the portal.  

But what made them make this decision? While Day is yet to release an official statement, White speculates what might have propelled the university to take this path. “I know why they did this. Because they had a record number of applications this year. Michigan announced they has 112,000 or something. So, I’m sure Ohio State is not far behind and I think they’re really needing a way to kind of weed people.” White sounds really upset like how this one decision is going to have a serious impact on the young athletes. After all, these test comes with a high cost, both financially and mentally. However, Day is not quite bothered to address the issue as he has something big ahead. 

Ryan Day now has a big project in hand

Spring ushers in some cool breeze in Columbus. And Day is in the mood to enjoy this. Right now, the Buckeyes are planning to land the 4-star running back Amir Brown for their 2027 class. Now this is something they have been pursuing for quite some time now. On January 25, just five days after lifting the championship trophy, they had sent a scholarship to Brown. 

However, the 5’10” and 200-pounder has many visits planned ahead with Day’s Buckeyes being one in the mix. He will be starting with North Carolina on March 22, followed by stopping at Notre Dame Fighting Irish on April 11. Buckeyes on April 12, Dukes on April 19, and wrapping his visit sprees with Penn State Nittany Lions on April 26. Now will Day and the Buckeyes be able to seal the deal with Brown? Looks like Bill Belichick’s North Carolina is likely to seal the deal with the sophomore. 

Now this might leave Ryan Day’s squad with some FOMO feels. Amir Brown used to play at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Later on, he transferred to Rolesville High School. In the meantime, Brown had a breakout sophomore season in 2024. He racked up 903 total yards and 16 touchdowns. Landing him would mark the Buckeyes’ first running back pledge in the 2027 class. If they’re in the running, will the reinstatement push him to pick North Carolina?