James Conrad committed to Ohio State on Thursday afternoon, five days after the Buckeyes offered him. The linebacker from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland had been committed to Buffalo since June 14. Lyle Alenstein reported the flip for Eleven Warriors, and it makes Conrad the 20th commit in Ohio State’s 2027 class.

247Sports and On3 agree on the day. His 247Sports page, read Thursday night, carries a hard commitment to Ohio State stamped 10/15/2026, where on October 13 it still showed Buffalo. On3’s Industry view of the Ohio State commits page lists him with the same date and counts the class at 20.

Five days

Conrad came to Ohio Stadium for the Maryland game on Saturday, October 10, without an Ohio State offer, and left with one. This site reported the offer on Tuesday, off Gene Ross’ report for Land-Grant Holy Land, which said it was the first offer of Conrad’s recruitment from a Power Four program. Ross also reported that On3’s Steve Wiltfong had logged a prediction for Ohio State to flip him. On Thursday the prediction came true.

Alenstein’s account fills in the rest. Buffalo was Conrad’s second offer, on May 7, and he picked the Bulls on June 14. His other offers included Toledo, Kent State, UConn, Marshall, Bowling Green and Youngstown State.

What the services say about him

Both 247Sports and On3 file him as a three-star. On3’s Industry ranking, which is the number this site’s board prints, had him No. 1187 nationally the day he flipped, the lowest ranking of Ohio State’s 20 commits. The same page read No. 1191 on October 29, still the class’s lowest. The 247Sports Composite has him No. 992 nationally, No. 84 among linebackers and No. 37 in Ohio. 247Sports’ own rating gives him no national rank, files him No. 76 at linebacker and No. 40 in Ohio, and lists him at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds.

Alenstein’s explanation for the late offer is this fall. As a junior at St. Ignatius, he wrote, Conrad made 23 tackles, five of them for loss, and two sacks, and his improvement as a senior is what brought Ohio State in this late in the cycle. He also competes in track for St. Ignatius, with personal bests this spring of 49-6.5 in the shot put and 209-1 in the discus.

St. Ignatius was 4-4 when this site last read its MaxPreps schedule on Tuesday, and plays at St. Xavier in Cincinnati on Friday night.

Where he fits

Conrad is the third linebacker in the class, after four-stars Prince Goldsby and Quinton Cypher. Alenstein calls him a developmental prospect: every linebacker on Ohio State’s current roster has at least one more year of eligibility, and with Christian Alliegro, Payton Pierce, TJ Alford, Riley Pettijohn and Cincere Johnson all potentially back in 2027, he expects Conrad to start his career on special teams. The whole room is on the linebacker page.

He is also the sixth player from Ohio in the class, joining Jamier Brown of Huber Heights Wayne, Kellen Wymer of Liberty Center, Deontay Malone of Massillon Washington, Davis Seaman of Bishop Watterson and Mason Wilt of St. Clairsville.

Where the class stands

On3’s Industry team table, read Thursday night, counts Ohio State’s class at 20 and ranks it No. 6 nationally, one place lower than when this site last read it on October 10. It lists three five-stars, 12 four-stars and five three-stars, and the class is still second in the Big Ten on that table, behind Oregon at No. 4. On3’s Rivals-only team table still has Ohio State No. 7.

What is left

Alenstein reports the Buckeyes are not expected to add many more players to the 2027 class before December’s signing day. The opening that remains is running back, where the class still has nobody. Ohio State is still recruiting Wisconsin commit Kingston Allen and three-stars Jordan Hall and Tranard Roberts, all of whom have visited campus in recent weeks, he wrote. Hall has said he will choose between Missouri, Ohio State and Penn State on October 23.

Ohio State has another in-state flip target this week. Caleb Houser of Land-Grant Holy Land reported on Thursday that Ohio State has offered Damion King, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound edge rusher at Westerville North who is committed to Appalachian State. Houser reports King has 60 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss through eight games, and that the 247Sports Composite ranks him No. 1638 nationally.

The full class, all 20 of them, is on the commit board.