Ohio
Who are Ohio State football’s best transfer portal additions under Ryan Day?
Ohio State has already been active in the transfer portal ahead of the 2024 season.
After the Buckeyes’ 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State added former Ohio tight end Will Kacmarek. The Buckeyes have also reportedly hosted players such as former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin and former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard.
Since Ryan Day took over the Ohio State program in 2019, the Buckeyes have added 17 players through the transfer portal, including 10 players in the 2023 offseason.
Which transfer additions have brought the most success to Ohio State?
Here are the top five transfer additions Ohio State has made in the Day era.
5. SAF Tanner McCalister
In Jim Knowles’ first season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, Tanner McCalister helped the Buckeyes transition into Knowles’ new scheme.
Having played for Oklahoma State for four seasons under Knowles, McCalister found a home as a nickel safety, finishing wth 24 tackles, one pass deflection and a career-high three interceptions, including two against Iowa Oct. 22, 2022.
In McCalister’s only season at Ohio State, Knowles’ defense was one of six Big Ten defenses to allow less than five yards per play.
4. CB Davison Igbinosun
Davison Igbinosun was a plug-and-play starter in Ohio State’s secondary in 2023.
Transferring from Mississippi after one season, Igbinosun played 770 snaps for the Buckeyes in 2023 per Pro Football Focus, recording 59 tackles, five pass deflections, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and two fumble recoveries.
Facing Igbinosun, receivers recorded 36 receptions on 71 targets and five touchdowns. After allowing double-digit yards-after-catch in each of the first four games, Igbinosun limited receivers to less than 15 yards after catch in his last nine games.
Igbinosun had a season-high seven tackles in Ohio State’s 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri.
3. RB Trey Sermon
Trey Sermon’s Ohio State career can nearly been defined by one game.
After five games where he recorded 344 rushing yards and one touchdown — including a 112-yard performance against Michigan State — Sermon, an Oklahoma transfer, nearly eclipsed that total in Ohio State’s 22-10 Big Ten championship win against Northwestern, recording 331 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
Sermon followed up his Big Ten championship performance with a 193-yard performance in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.
Sermon finished the 2020 season with 870 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
2. K Noah Ruggles
After three seasons at North Carolina, Noah Ruggles picked up where he left off in two years at Ohio State.
In two seasons as the Buckeyes’ starting kicker, Ruggles finished career fifth in Ohio State history with 37 made field goals in 41 tries, finishing his career with the highest field goal percentage in program history at 90.2%.
In 2021, Ruggles made 20 of 21 field goal tries for a 95.2% success rate: 5.2 percentage points higher than any Ohio State kicker in program history.
Ruggles also hit 148 of 149 extra point tries.
1. QB Justin Fields
Justin Fields is Day’s biggest transfer portal success story.
Transferring from Georgia prior to the 2019 season, Fields won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020 as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, recording 5,373 passing yards, 63 touchdowns and nine interceptions with 15 rushing touchdowns.
In each of his seasons as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, Fields finished as a top-10 Heisman Trophy vote getter, finishing third in 2019.
In Fields’ two seasons at Ohio State, the Buckeyes finished with a record of 20-2, with his only losses coming to Clemson and Alabama, respectively, in the College Football Playoff.
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cgay@dispatch.com
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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Real estate transfers in Licking County, Ohio, range from $85,000 to $865,000
The following are property transfers recorded in Licking County from June 1-5, 2026.
First name indicates the seller; second name represents the buyer
Buckeye Lake
- 502 Providence Lane; Cohagen, Christopher C and Lori A; Adams, Jeffrey L and Boyce-Adams, Jo Anna; 6/1/2026; $511,000
- 131 Cranberry Lane; Smart, Amy and Kidwell, Kevin K; Sew and Minor, Christian; 6/1/2026; $262,000
Etna Township
- 116 Cameron Drive SW; Ray, Erica L; Darjee, Sanjay and Laxmi and Dil; 6/2/2026; $412,000
- 119 Kraner St. SW; Adkins, Zane and Amy; Culbertson, Brenton Howard; 6/1/2026; $368,500
- 160 Dusky Willow Drive; Willow Reserve LLC; Martin, Alaina K; 6/2/2026; $290,940
Granville
- 119 Derwyn Del Way; Lifer, David C and Julia H; Martin, Michael and Lisa; 6/1/2026; $865,000
- 39 Victoria Drive; Acton, Wendy S and Paul J; Cannon, Matthew Evan and Zywica, Natalie Nicole; 6/2/2026; $835,000
Granville Township
- 49 Alberry Drive; Halliday, Lucas and Breayne; Howe, Jason and Kathryn; 6/2/2026; $570,000
Harrison Township
- 102 Whirlaway Loop; Rice, Dawn (Trustee); Bope, Maria and Shane; 6/2/2026; $420,000
Heath
- 1306 Kacey Court; Fischer Homes Columbus II LLC; Owens, Blake Andrew and Taylor Marie; 6/2/2026; $437,779
- 805 Fieldson Drive; Flowers, Ingrit; Harder, Noah C; 6/2/2026; $250,000
Hebron
- 802 Cumberland Meadows Circle; Lines, Marlene S; Gerhart, Jamie A and Ralph W Jr; 6/2/2026; $232,000
Johnstown
- 101 Bigelow Drive; McGovern, Matthew S and Jennifer L; Sanford, Jessica; 6/2/2026; $442,500
Liberty Township
- 5844 Nichols Lane Road NW; La Jeunesse, Garth E and Debra; Nesselroad, William Heath and Annie; 6/1/2026; $629,000
- 7211 Northridge Road NW; Devault, Robert E Jr and Joann; Esbenshade, Travis M and Lowe, Shelby M; 6/1/2026; $495,000
Newark
- 2110 Overlook Way; D.R. Horton-Indiana LLC; Tarsha, Michele A; 6/1/2026; $433,335
- 1162 Taylor Ave.; Heath Fluid LLC; Anglada, Gabriel P and Salina T; 6/1/2026; $200,000
- 32 Postal Ave. W.; Palmisano, Phil; Moore, Dominic Michael and Miksich, Paige Elizabeth; 6/1/2026; $198,900
- 75 Gay St.; Velez, Marcos A; Camell, Campbell; 6/1/2026; $155,000
- 655 Evans St.; TNL; McRada Properties LLC; 6/1/2026; $145,000
- 63 Wallace St.; FDA Peachtree LLC; Burns, Amber L; 6/2/2026; $86,500
- 404 10th St.; Synergy Group Properties LLC; Busy Boys Restoration LLC; 6/2/2026; $85,000
Reynoldsburg
- 8447 Rodebaugh Road; Collins, Carol J; Thorpe, Kimberley Lynn and Henry, Steven; 6/2/2026; $340,000
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