Elite, 5-star defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou commits to Big 10 program

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When he took his official visits to Georgia, Ohio State and Texas, Sierra Canyon (CA) five-star defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou saw enough to know that he could cancel his upcoming official visits to Notre Dame and Oregon.

Of those three schools, one in particular had stood out to Fakatou for some time and the official visit appeared to be the final nail in landing his commitment.

Fakatou announced his commitment to Ohio State on Monday afternoon, June 29, choosing the Buckeyes over Georgia and Texas.

247Sports ranks the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder as the No. 45 overall player, No. 3 defensive lineman and No. 6 player in California for the 2027 cycle.

The USA TODAY High School Sports composite ranking, a ranking based on the composite rankings from industry leaders, has Sparrow as the No. 24 overall player in the class and No. 2 defensive lineman.

Fakatou will play his senior season at Sierra Canyon after playing the first three years of his high school career at Orange Lutheran. Last season he totaled 69 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, seven sacks and two forced fumbles.

Buckeyes land another elite defensive line prospect

A reason for Ohio State’s success under Ryan Day over the last decade is the Buckeyes play up front on the defensive side of the ball.

With Fakatou’s pledge, that trend should continue on into the future as the Buckeyes now hold commitments from two of the best defensive players in the 2027 class.

Fakatou now joins a class of four defensive line commitments including DJ Jacobs, the No. 1 player in the 2027 class according to 247Sports. Their other defensive line pledges include St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) four-star edge Wyatt Smith and Blue Springs South (Blue Springs, MO) four-star edge Prince Goldsby.

Jacobs, Fakatou and Smith are all ranked as top 100 prospects by 247Sports.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elite, 5-star defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou commits to Big 10 program

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