New Ohio State commitment confirms suspicion that his current teammate helped him choose the Buckeyes and ditch the SEC

It was only a matter of time, but the Ohio State Buckeyes finally flipped a key SEC commitment from the Florida Gators over the weekend.

Ohio State’s Glenville High School pipeline continues to pay dividends. It was a surprise when three-star defensive tackle Jamir Perez committed to the Gators back in May, but the Buckeyes were able to pull off the flip on the Fourth of July. It was never a matter of if Ohio State would land Perez—only when.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has secured a player with a high ceiling on the interior of the defensive line—one who is still developing and growing into his role. Perez’s commitment gives the Buckeyes two players from Glenville in their 2026 class. According to Perez, his teammate played a key role in his decision to flip to Ohio State.

“That’s my dog,” Perez said of four-star Ohio State linebacker commit Cincere Johnson on the Austin and Birm podcast. “That’s who I consider like my brother. So him and I always had a thing that if we had the same offers, we were going to go to the same place. It was kind of that, and also talking to Coach Johnson, Coach Patricia, Coach Day, and Coach Ginn. They really had to sit me down to help me understand what was going on.”