Wild situation down in Texas high school football right now. John Meredith III, who is widely considered the absolute number one cornerback prospect in the country for the 2027 class and the Ohio State Buckeyes’ favorite target, just got hit with a varsity roadblock. On Friday, the local district committee (the University Interscholastic League (UIL) District 11-6A Executive Committee) handed down a 5-2 vote to rule him completely ineligible to play varsity football next season. The Buckeyes might need to hold their horses for this one.

This entire mess started after he transferred from Euless Trinity over to North Crowley High School back in January, which instantly raised some red flags for local officials.

The main reason he got banned comes down to a strict Texas high school rule against transferring for “athletic purposes.” Under Texas UIL Section 443 bylaws, student-athletes are strictly prohibited from changing schools for primary athletic motivations. Basically, the state doesn’t want elite athletes switching schools just to join a powerhouse team and chase state championships.

Since North Crowley is already one of the football juggernauts down there in Texas, the District Executive Committee (DEC) decided, after reviewing the timeline, that Meredith’s move was executed to boost his football career alongside the likes of UCLA-committed corner Jerry Outhouse Jr. and many others.

It’s a big strain on North Crowley’s rep, but Meredith’s family is already planning to appeal the decision to the UIL State Executive Committee in Austin.

If the appeal fails, it means Meredith will have to sit out his entire next season of varsity football, which is almost unheard of for a player of his caliber. He is technically allowed to practice and even play on the junior varsity team.

The big worry here is that he could go nearly 20 months without playing a real, competitive football game before he heads off to college. That long layoff could definitely rust his skills and slow down his overall development.

Even though his high school career is on pause, his college recruiting process is still absolutely on fire. High school eligibility rules don’t affect college scholarships, so his 42 Division I offers are still totally safe. College coaches don’t care about high school drama.

In fact, apparently, they would be more than happy if he played for North Crowley, so they can see how he is when facing top receivers in the country.

The Texas native stands about 6’2 and somewhere between 174–183 pounds. Some scouts consider Meredith one of the most mechanically perfect cornerback prospects to come out of Texas in the modern recruiting era. He’s ranked as the second-best player in the 2027 Class with a grade of 98.62. Truth be told, that’s about as high praise as a recruit can get. No wonder just about everybody wants a piece of him.

The Buckeyes officially offered John his scholarship on May 13, 2025. Within an hour or so, Meredith hopped onto his X handle and announced his official scholarship offer from Ohio State, tagging coach Tim Walton and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Even though they may not see him play for another 20 months, they are not taking any chances here, regardless.

According to Buckeyes Wire, Ryan Day and staff actually landed the highly coveted final official visit with him, which is scheduled for June 19, after he visits Alabama, Texas, and Texas A&M.

Getting the last visit is huge in recruiting because it gives Ohio State the chance to make the final impression right before he makes a decision. However, there is some serious competition to beat out, especially from the local Texas schools.

Ohio State might need to beat Texas and the Aggies

Both the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies are pushing incredibly hard to keep Meredith home. He just took an official visit to Texas on June 5, and word on the street is that he absolutely loved it, saying the vibe felt like home.

Most national recruiting insiders like Charlie Williams currently think the Longhorns have the edge, making them the team to beat right now. On3’s RPM model predicted the Longhorns had a 75% probability to win his pledge. During his upcoming visit to Columbus, Ohio State is going to have to pitch a clear plan on how they will keep him sharp if he does end up sitting out the season.

The Buckeyes have a great track record of putting cornerbacks into the NFL, and Tim Walton and the DB coaches will need to use that history to convince him that Ohio State is the best place for his future. But at the same time, we can’t ignore the rumors that he could commit to Texas (most likely) or Texas A&M as early as next week. If he does, the Buckeyes need to look elsewhere for the five-star DB immediately.