'We Want Competition': Mark Pantoni on Ohio State Recruiting in Transfer Portal
As college football continues to evolve and change, recruiting the transfer portal has become just as important as recruiting in the traditional sense.
Mark Pantoni, Ohio State's assistant athletic director for player personnel, realizes this and how important it is for the Buckeyes to stay active in the portal.
"We want to make sure, most importantly, that they're a great fit," Pantoni said. "We feel like we have a great culture and great players here, so we want to make sure it's all going to mesh well.
"We don't want to bring someone in that will cause a disruption with the current players."
In this cycle alone, the Buckeyes have brought in four additions via the transfer portal in cornerback Davison Igbinsoun, offensive tackle Victor Cutler, quarterback Tristan Gebbia and safety Ja'Had Carter.
No, not all transfer additions are created equal, but someone like Igbinsoun will have a chance to play immediately and is the type of player Pantoni and the Buckeyes seek in the portal.
"We do want competition," Pantoni said. "We'll never take a guy because we're scared that we may lose anybody here, but we do want to make sure it's going to be an upgrade. We don't want to bring guys in just to bring guys in.
"The worst thing you can do is bring a guy in and they expect to start and that doesn't happen. That can ruin a locker room as well. Guys we've brought in in the past have been home runs and hopefully we continue to hit on those."
The Buckeyes have undoubtedly built one of the best winning cultures in college football, with the results speaking for themselves. If they continue to recruit the transfer portal as strongly as they have, that success and winning will be sustained even longer.
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