Ohio State used its homecoming game against Maryland on Saturday to offer two players who are already committed somewhere else.

One is James Conrad, a linebacker from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland who has been committed to Buffalo since June. The other is Kingston Allen, a running back from Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin, who has been committed to Wisconsin since April. Gene Ross of Land-Grant Holy Land reported both offers on Monday, after each player announced his own on X. Ohio State won the game 45-16.

The linebacker from Cleveland

Conrad, a 2027 prospect listed at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds on 247Sports, made the trip to Columbus without an Ohio State offer, Ross wrote, “but that changed over the weekend.” Ross reports it is the first offer of Conrad’s recruitment from a Power Four program, and quotes Conrad calling it an “emotional” one.

Ross also reports that On3’s Steve Wiltfong logged a Recruiting Prediction Machine pick for Ohio State to flip Conrad from Buffalo shortly after Conrad announced the offer. That is a prediction, not a decision: Conrad has not said anything about leaving the Bulls, and his 247Sports page, read Tuesday night, still showed a hard commitment to Buffalo stamped June 14, 2026 and no Crystal Ball prediction.

The rankings put him among the better linebackers in his own state rather than the country. 247Sports’ own rating files him No. 40 among Ohio’s 2027 prospects and No. 76 among linebackers. The 247Sports Composite, which averages the major services, has him No. 37 in Ohio, No. 84 at linebacker and No. 992 nationally.

As of October 13, Ohio State has two linebackers in its 2027 class, Prince Goldsby and Quinton Cypher. The full room is on the linebacker page.

The running back from Green Bay

Allen is the bigger name in his own recruitment. He has been committed to Wisconsin since April 3, 2026, the date 247Sports stamps on his page, and Ross notes he is the second-highest rated player in the Badgers’ class by 247Sports. Of the 22 commits on Wisconsin’s 2027 page, he shares the second-highest rating with Cole Reiter, one point behind Mekhi Williams.

His numbers are why. Ross reports Allen is the reigning Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year, ran for more than 3,400 yards and 57 touchdowns last season, and was already near 2,300 yards and 43 touchdowns through eight games this fall. On Friday night, Ross wrote, Allen ran for 306 yards and five touchdowns on 16 carries, his seventh career game of 300 yards or more, the most in Wisconsin high school history.

247Sports’ own rating has him No. 150 nationally, No. 7 among running backs and No. 1 in Wisconsin. The 247Sports Composite is cooler: No. 238 nationally, No. 18 at running back, No. 2 in the state. His page carries one Crystal Ball prediction, for Wisconsin.

Ross was blunt about Ohio State’s odds. The Buckeyes are “pretty late” on Allen, he wrote, and it will be “incredibly tough to pry him away from the in-state Badgers, especially this late in the game.”

Why a running back offer matters this month

As of October 13, Ohio State’s 2027 class has 19 commits and no running back. Dan Hessler of Land-Grant Holy Land wrote on Tuesday that the Buckeyes “are still looking to grab a RB for their 2027 class” after their top target, David Gabriel-Georges, picked Tennessee in July.

The uncommitted back on this board is Jordan Hall of Cincinnati Princeton, who has said he will choose between Missouri, Ohio State and Penn State on October 23. Allen’s offer does not change that date. It does show Ohio State still offering 2027 running backs less than two weeks before Hall decides, including one committed to a Big Ten rival.

The rest of the position is on the running back page.

Who else was there

Ross listed a dozen other prospects at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, most of them from the 2028 and 2029 classes. Two of them were Ohio State commits: 2027 defensive tackle Karlos May of Birmingham, Alabama, and 2028 tight end Luke Sohyda of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Another was 2028 defensive lineman Jamarcus Johnson of Lyons, Georgia, whose visit this site reported last week.

Hessler noted that Maryland was Ohio State’s last chance for several weeks to host recruits on a game day: the Buckeyes play at Indiana this week and then have their bye.

Correction, October 15: an earlier version of this story said Conrad’s 247Sports page was read Monday night. It was read Tuesday night, October 13.