Tuimoloau Cancels Last Visit; Decision Should Come Soon

J.T. Tuimoloau has canceled his final recruiting visit to Alabama, indicating he will choose his college football destination from among Washington, Oregon, USC and Ohio State.

Meantime, the Buckeyes are thinking, hoping, they're the leader for the highly regarded 5-star defensive end from the Seattle suburbs based on the numbers game alone.

It has been reported in Columbus that fellow 2021 recruit and early enrollee Jack Sawyer recently switched to No. 40 after wearing Tuimoloau's No. 33 during Ohio State spring practice, presumably opening up the jersey to entice the coveted edge rusher to the Big Ten school.

The Buckeyes also made a big show of a group of coaches and players wearing No. 33 when they greeted Tuimoloau on June 17 once he stepped off his airplane at John Glenn International Airport for his visit.

So now it comes down to the decision.

Tuimoloau told 247Sports he wouldn't be taking a weekend visit to Alabama, which no doubt came as a huge surprise and disappointment to the Crimson Tide faithful used to getting its way with top talent.

"It’s just a feeling I’ve had for a while now and after getting back from my official visit to Oregon, we decided not to take the trip to Alabama," Tuimoloau told 247Sports. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what each of the four schools I’ve visited offer and now I’m going to discuss things as a family and come to a decision."

Tuimoloau is the last big-name player from the class of 2021 who remains uncommitted. He has maintained all along that he had to take campus visits to his schools of interest before deciding, and he's held true to that mantra.

While the pundits like to think that Ohio State is the leader for Tuimoloau, only he knows where he's leaning. He visited hometown Washington first on June 4-6, followed by a trip to USC 10 days later, then Ohio State a week after that and most recently Oregon.

His much-anticipated decision should be forthcoming. What's he going to do?

Wild guess is it's down to Ohio State and Washington. Oregon and USC come next, in that order.

But only J.T. knows for sure.

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