Ohio State Buckeyes Have Official Visit Cancelled By 5-Star Prospect

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes have a lot of targets they are pursuing in the 2026 recruiting class. However, one of those targets appears to have removed his name from consideration.

Zion Elee, a current five-star Maryland Terrapins' commit, had been scheduled to take an official visit to Ohio State. That won't be happening.

According to a report from On3 Sports college football insider Hayes Fawcett, Elee has cancelled all of the official visits he had scheduled. He's all-in on Maryland and has decided that he has no reason to keep exploring.

Fawcett also revealed the six-word message that Elee sent out about his decision to cancel the visits.

“I’m home, no need to explore," he said.

BREAKING: Five-Star Maryland EDGE commit Zion Elee has shut down his Recruitment & cancelled his OV’s, he tells me for @on3recruits

The No. 1 Recruit in the ‘26 Class was set to take visits to Ohio St, Auburn, Penn St, Texas A&M, & South Carolina

“I’m home, no need to explore.”… pic.twitter.com/k3h2cze7vA
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 21, 2025

Flipping Elee would have been a massive win for the Buckeyes. He has legitimate superstar potential at the college football left.

Hailing from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, the 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds EDGE is currently ranked as the No. 1 player at his position in the 2026 class. He is also ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in the country.

Unfortunately, Ohio State can give up on their hopes of flipping him. He's sticking with the Terrapins and this decision makes that crystal clear.

So far in the 2026 class, the Buckeyes have quite a few high-level commits. Chris Henry Jr., the five-star wide receiver, headlines those. They also have athlete Jakob Weatherspoon, tight end Corbyn Fordham, and wide receiver Jaeden Ricketts committed.

Obviously, Day has a lot more work to do in order to get the class to where he'd like it to be.

Even though Elee staying with Maryland is a disappointment, there are a lot of top-tier talents for Ohio State to go out and get. It will be interesting to see who else the Buckeyes are able to land in the 2026 class.

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