Why four-star offensive lineman Carter Lowe chose Ohio State over Michigan

Why four-star offensive lineman Carter Lowe chose Ohio State over Michigan

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Relationship-building was big with 2025 offensive lineman Carter Lowe, and it’s a big reason why the four-star tackle chose Ohio State on Saturday.

Lowe, the No. 79 overall player in the class per the 247Sports composite rankings, is from Toledo — an area close enough to both Ann Arbor and Columbus to be considered the backyard for both programs.

But when it comes to Ohio State and Michigan, Lowe mentioned that his relationship with offensive line coach Justin Frye was top-notch. The Buckeyes were his first Power Five offer, and they kept in contact with him throughout the entire process.

“It really varies, because there’s a difference between offering early and keeping the contact for an entire time,” Lowe said. “I talked to other schools that offered as early as them, and didn’t really stay in contact. The Team Up North, I talked to them for a while, I like coach (Sherrone) Moore a lot, actually in the beginning I liked UM more. But I didn’t really have that relationship that I have with coach Moore. He didn’t really keep me as engaged as I wanted to.”

The Wolverines led at one point for Lowe, he said, but Ohio State came into the lead over the summer. The Buckeyes never relinquished that spot in Lowe’s mind, and during the Penn State game in October, he was confident that’s where he wanted to go to school.

In adding Lowe, who projects as a tackle, Ohio State is getting a massive addition to the 2025 class. The Buckeyes have been searching far and wide for linemen of Lowe’s caliber, and they found one just two hours from Columbus.

And for Frye and coach Ryan Day, it was the relationship-building that kept Lowe most engaged with Ohio State.

“I went to UM, I went there, they don’t do a good job recruiting off-campus,” Lowe said. “I noticed that, so that was probably a big reason I started leaning toward Ohio State.”