It wasn’t long ago that 2027 offensive tackle prospect Kellen Wymer was sitting around at his lunch table with his friends, claiming he would take an offer to Bowling Green over going to Ohio State.
The Liberty Center, Ohio, recruit grew up a fan of the Buckeyes archrival Michigan, as the rest of his family was.
But as the 6-5, 265-pound Wymer sat on the turf in the middle of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in June 2025 at a recruiting camp his brother wanted to be at more than he did, a hype video was put on the video board that featured highlights from Ohio State’s national championship run it made the year before, and that changed everything for Wymer.
“They play this video, and I got chills,” he told BSB. “It was there that I was like, ‘Man, this could be a place that I play at. That’s where it flipped everything for me.”
At one point, Wymer did still want to be a Wolverine. Before he camped at Ohio State, Wymer went to a camp in Ann Arbor, but that didn’t come as soon as he would have hoped.
“I went to a camp at Michigan, and I have nothing against them, but at the time I was starting to pick up offers from Indiana, Michigan State and Northwestern,” Wymer said. “I went there, and I had really high hopes. I was hoping to get an offer. They were my favorite team growing up. I went there and didn’t get the offer, but we stayed in contact.”
When it came to softening his stance on the Buckeyes, it also helped that offensive line coach Tyler Bowen took an interest in Wymer as well.
“From the second I went there, Coach Bowen came up, introduced himself. It was super welcoming there,” Wymer said. “He’s super personable. From the moment I started talking to him at camp, he was super easy to connect with.
“He’s got super good energy, and he’s got great experience when it comes to working with NFL players and college players as well. He’s a super likeable guy, and he connects really well with people’s families.”
Wymer said he consistently talks with Bowen two to three times per week, and his attitude toward Ohio State has completely flipped. Not even six months after he attended that recruiting camp, Wymer was committed to the Buckeyes, pledging on Nov. 2, the day after he was on campus for a game day visit.
He chose to commit to Ohio State just two days after he ended up getting a scholarship offer from Michigan.
“(Ohio State is) always a national championship contender. Their culture is unreal,” he said. “It’s something that I wanted to be a part of. I honestly knew when the process started that’s probably the place I was going to end up, and after a visit, that really reassured it all, so I committed early so I could strengthen those relationships.”
Wymer said that he has a plan in place to enroll early at Ohio State next year, but he isn’t in a rush to wish away his last year in high school either.
Before he’s able to enroll at Ohio State, he will still be visiting his future home often, starting with a couple of spring visits he already has planned.
“I’m planning on going to the first spring practice and then I’m planning on getting back on the 28th with the other O-line commits,” he said. “We’re all going to go down together and kind of make a day of it.”
