Two college football powerhouses in intense battle for $155,000 prospect

The Ohio State Buckeyes are fresh off a College Football Playoff national championship win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

In turn, the recruiting trail has been busy for head coach Ryan Day and his staff. Now, with the 2025 season still a couple of months away, Ohio State is in the running for an elite prospect.

That prospect is edge rusher Luke Wafle, who is rated as a four-star prospect by On3.

But, Wafle took a visit to USC over the weekend, and all signs pointed to Lincoln Riley beating Ryan Day for the talented pass rusher. That is, until a report from Steve Wiltfong of On3.

"Ohio State upped its NIL offer to become more competitive and keep the blue-chipper close to home. Wafle even informed USC that he was opting to stay closer to home. With that, I moved my expert prediction for Wafle on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine in favor of the Buckeyes," Wiltfong wrote.

Wiltfong then mentioned that USC is increasing its NIL offer in hopes of luring Wafle to Southern California, so it is an intense battle for the edge rusher.

Currently, his On3 NIL valuation is at $155,000, and Wiltfong mentioned that sources suggest Wafle could get a deal of at least $500,000 per year.

This is not a meaningless recruit, either. Wafle is the No. 52 prospect in the Class of 2026 and the No. 10 edge rusher in the class, per On3, so this would be a massive pickup for either powerhouse program.

Wafle's final five was USC, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Florida, but the New Jersey native is set to reveal his decision on June 19.