The Reason why four-star offensive lineman Carter Lowe chose Ohio State over Michigan

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

Lowe, the No. 79 overall player in the class according to the 247Sports composite rankings, is from Toledo, which is close enough to Ann Arbour and Columbus to be considered the programmes’ backyards.

However, when it came to Ohio State and Michigan, Lowe stated that his relationship with offensive line coach Justin Frye was excellent. The Buckeyes were his first Power Five offer, and they remained in contact with him throughout the 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.”

According to Lowe, the Wolverines led briefly before Ohio State took the lead over the summer. The Buckeyes never left Lowe’s mind, and during the Penn State game in October, he was certain that was where he wanted to go to college.

Lowe, who projects as a tackle, gives Ohio State a significant boost to its 2025 recruiting class. The Buckeyes have looked far and wide for linemen of Lowe’s calibre, and they found one just two hours away from Columbus.

Lowe’s engagement with Ohio State, according to Frye and coach Ryan Day, was primarily driven by relationship building.

“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.”

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