Ohio State’s recruiting efforts were questioned when Brian Hartline left for USF. However, Cortez Hankton is proving to be a worthy replacement and has been making moves in the transfer portal. The OSU WRs coach has reportedly extended his first offer to a top recruiting prospect, trying to flip the Texas Longhorns’ commitment to build their receivers room.

According to Rivals’ Mick Walker report, Ohio State’s WR coach, Cortez Hankton, put his first offer on the table for five-star Texas commit Easton Royal. The Louisiana native has been on Hankton’s radar for a long time, and he even tried to recruit him during his time coaching at LSU, where he spent his last four seasons.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound wide receiver visited Ohio State a couple of months ago for the Texas game before committing to Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns. This is by far his first offer from the Big Ten powerhouse, and Hankton and OSU will look to get involved in flipping the top 2027 prospect. Royal possesses elite speed and separation ability, which makes him an ideal candidate for any program.

Easton Royal came off with an impressive performance at the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando last weekend. Royal just finished a dominant junior season for Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He finished the regular season receiving 1,151 yards and 17 touchdowns, receiving the ball 53 times. This is his second consecutive 1,100+ yard season. Last year, as a sophomore, he played 12 games, receiving 1,149 yards and 14 touchdowns.

His consistent elite performance makes him the third-best wide receiver of his class and the top overall prospect within the state of Louisiana. His incredible gameplay earned a lot of attention, receiving 29 offers from the top schools. Yet he made his commitment to Texas. Royal is among the three early commits for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns in the 2027 cycle.

If he flipped to OSU, his speed and YAC skills would certainly boost their receiver room alongside prospects like Jamier Brown. This will provide explosive playmaking. On the other hand, the Longhorns will definitely suffer with Royal’s exit since he’s been a corner Louisiana pipeline talent.

The pursuit of Easton Royal gained urgency after Ohio State’s wide receiver, Carnell Tate, announced his entry to the NFL Draft, and the other WR, Quincy Porter, entered the transfer portal. The interest in flipping the Longhorns commit cannot be passed easily, as Ohio State signed a contract to play Texas in the non-conference matchup.

OSU and Texas non-conference sequel

Ohio State and Texas agreed to a home-and-home series matchup, which was signed back in August 2014. The games were slated to take place in 2022 and 2023, when Texas was still part of the Big 12 conference. However, an amendment was made in May 2018, and the game was moved to 2025 and 2026 as a part of a non-conference matchup. 

They had their first matchup this past season on Aug. 30, 2025, where the Buckeyes defeated the Longhorns by 14-7 at Columbus, where Ohio State paid the visiting team $500,000 as part of their agreement to host the matchup. Texas received 300 complimentary tickets and another 3,500 tickets for purchase.

Their second game is scheduled nine months later on Sept. 12, 2026, as part of the sequel matchup. However, they have already planned to cause damage to their future receiver’s room, although they have a handful of wide receivers for their next recruiting class.

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Ohio State already has a major WR in its next recruiting class, including Jamier Brown, the No. 12 overall prospect and No. 3 receiver in the nation. And the Five-Star Plus+ WR Chris Henry Jr., the No. 7 recruit and top-ranked WR in the 2026 cycle. It would be interesting to see if the Buckeyes could actually land a commitment from Easton Royal.