Texas Football: OSU commit Tunmise Adeleye details why he passed on Longhorns

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class missed out on 4-Star DE Tunmise Adeleye to Ohio State, and there’s one particular reason why.

Early on during the 2021 recruiting cycle, the Texas football program looked like it was in good position to land four-star IMG Academy 6-foot-3 and 240 pound strong-side defensive end Tunmise Adeleye. But head coach Tom Herman and recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash would miss out on Adeleye at the hands of head coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Back on April 15, Adeleye announced his commitment to take his talents to the Big Ten and join Ohio State over the Texas Longhorns football program. That gave the Buckeyes the nation’s No. 30 2021 high school prospect, No. 4 strong-side defensive end, and No. 7 prospect out of Florida added to their 2021 recruiting class.

Adeleye wound up choosing Ohio State also over offers from the likes of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Baylor Bears, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies, and USC Trojans. Pretty much every major college program around the country was pursuing his commitment.

However, there was a point at which the Longhorns were one of the favorites to land the commitment of Adeleye. Texas was at one point one of his three finalist schools. It seems like his commitment decision really came down to Ohio State, Texas, and Texas A&M.

Adeleye did recently open up on the big reason why he chose to commit to Ohio State over Texas. In a post he had on his Instagram page earlier this week, Adeleye stated that the NFL Draft results of Ohio State compared to Texas is the crucial factor to his commitment to the Buckeyes.

In a piece from 247Sports detailing this matter, the top three college programs in the nation in terms of sending blue chip recruits to the NFL Draft were announced. Ohio State was part of the top three that also included the Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers.

This could be a turning point with Herman at the helm for the Longhorns in terms of producing NFL-caliber talent. The 2021 NFL Draft could be a real gem for products off the Forty Acres, including the likes of linebacker Joseph Ossai, safety Caden Sterns, and offensive tackle Sam Cosmi.

While Adeleye does have a point about the Longhorns and their down spell in the NFL Draft of late, his information might be a bit outdated. The Longhorns are already seeing their NFL Draft fortunes turn around for the best. They did at least have two day two picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, including wide receiver Devin Duvernay and safety Brandon Jones.

This is a situation that has to remind the Longhorns about former five-star wide receiver recruit and Ohio State commit Garrett Wilson. The Austin, TX, native Wilson wound up taking his talents to Columbus instead of staying in his hometown since the NFL development wasn’t happening on the Forty Acres.