COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State was once in a recruiting battle for defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson, and lost to Auburn. The Buckeyes got a second chance, and won this time.
Jackson, who's playing at Blinn junior college this year, announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday. He's the 18th commit in the class and the second defensive tackle, joining five-star prospect Taron Vincent, the top high school defensive tackle in the country.
When Ohio State first recruited Jackson, he was a four-star prospect in the 2016 recruiting class ranked the No. 51 overall player in the country.
Jackson looked to transfer from Auburn after a freshman season in which he redshirted. Auburn blocked the Georgia native from transferring to any other SEC school, Clemson, Georgia Southern, Mercer or Ohio State. Blocking the Buckeyes always seemed like a strange move, but transfer rules allowed Auburn to do so.
Knowing what we know now, Jackson could've transferred to Ohio State, sat out a year and played next year -- all while learning the ins and outs of the program and getting coached by Larry Johnson. Now he'll have to go the junior college route before joining the Buckeyes.
Current Ohio State cornerback Kendall Sheffield made a somewhat similar move. He transferred from Alabama after redshirting his freshman season, transferred to Blinn College, and then committed to Ohio State.
Ohio State's 2018 recruiting class remains the No. 1 class in the 247Sports composite rankings.