Monshun Sales committed to Indiana on Friday, July 17. He announced it live on The Pat McAfee Show, and in doing so, per Eleven Warriors, he became the first composite five-star prospect ever to commit to Indiana.
Sales is the No. 1 receiver in the 2027 class in 247Sports’ own rankings and the No. 2 receiver, No. 8 overall, in the 247Sports composite the board is kept in. Inside the Hall lists him at No. 13 overall by 247Sports and No. 7 overall by On3 and Rivals, which is the same disagreement this site flagged when he set his date: the outlets are reading different instruments, and all of them have him at or near the top of the position. He is a 6-foot-5 receiver out of Lawrence North in Indianapolis, and per 247Sports his junior season read 37 catches for 794 yards and nine touchdowns on offense to go with 56 tackles at safety. Ohio State was one of his final five, alongside Alabama, Indiana, LSU and Texas. It did not get him.
This was not the upset it would have been in the spring
Ohio State was once seen as the odds-on favorite for Sales. That is not where the race stood by the time he decided. Buckeyes Wire wrote on July 12 that the favorite sentiment “seems to have faded in recent months,” and on July 14 Land-Grant Holy Land had Indiana out in front, with Ohio State chasing. A five-star from Indianapolis staying closer to home is the outcome the last month of reporting pointed at.
Inside the Hall makes the in-state case plainly: Lawrence North has sent receivers to Indiana before, including Donaven McCulley and Omar Cooper Jr., both of whom went on to the NFL. Neither outlet we fetched carries direct quotes from Sales explaining the choice, so this site is not printing a reason he has not given.
The receiver room is not the hole this leaves
The cost of a miss is real, but it is not the cost the defensive line would have paid for losing Karlos May. Ohio State’s 2027 class already holds Jamier Brown, the five-star who was at Big Walnut in Sunbury in July and has since returned to Wayne in Huber Heights, the top-rated receiver in the state of Ohio and the No. 24 player in the country. Per Eleven Warriors, the class carries two receivers: Brown and three-star Jordan Donahoo. The room keeps its five-star. What it does not add is a second one, and the chance to pair the best in-state receiver with the player most of the industry had ranked No. 1 at the position.
There is also a flip target still on the board. Benny Easter Jr., the No. 64 player in the class as of July 7, is a receiver Ohio State is still recruiting, and Eleven Warriors names him as the likely third option at the position. Unlike the interior of the defensive line, this spot does not go dark with the decision.
What is still open
Sales was the first of three decisions in six days, and the second has already gone Ohio State’s way. Karlos May committed to the Buckeyes on July 18, which gave the class the interior defensive lineman it did not have and took it to 19 pledges.
That leaves one. David Gabriel Georges, the five-star running back, chose Tennessee on July 22 over Ohio State and Ole Miss, and the class still has no running back at all.
Cornerback Gabriel Osborne Jr. remains a flip target, at a position where, per Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope on July 7, this class has no top-100 player for the first time in five years. And there is still no tight end, and no target at the position.
The full class, every rank sourced to the outlet that reported it, is on the 2027 commit board. What the class still needs is on the needs page.
