Top 100 Defensive Lineman P.J. Dean Breaks Down Top 3

CLEMMONS, N.C. — North Carolina star P.J. Dean is in the final stretch of his recruiting process. The Top 100 two-way lineman, being recruited to play defense by Ohio State, is down to just three programs and will make a round of official visits next month before coming to a decision.

“My Top Three are South Carolina, Georgia, and Ohio State,” Dean told BuckeyeHuddle.com on our Southern Swing tour this week. “My South Carolina official is May 30th through June 1st, my Georgia official visit is June 6th through the 8th and my Ohio State official is June 13th through the 15th.”

One thing that Ohio State has working in its favor in this recruitment is that Dean has good relationships with assistants on both sides of the ball in Columbus. Dean was initially recruited as an offensive lineman by Tyler Bowen when Bowen was at Virginia Tech and that relationship has stayed strong as Dean also continues to like what he sees from Buckeye defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

“Ohio State was recruiting me as an offensive lineman at first,” Dean recalled. “Coach Bowen was hitting my phone hard. He was recruiting me at Virginia Tech and he was my guy there, so with him going to Ohio State, I started looking into them more. Then I started talking to the defensive line coach and I told them, ‘hey I might be on the defensive line side of things’. So they were like ‘alright we’ll make a cut up of your tape and see what’s going on and we’ll tell you’.”

That proved to be a big turning point in Dean’s recruitment with the Buckeyes.

“Coach J loved (the film),” Dean recalled. “So Coach J is making it a mission that I’m a priority for him.”

A spring visit continued to move the needle for Dean and the people he trusts the most in his decision-making process.

“When we got up there, me and my mom were completely blown away,” Dean continued. “Our expectations were exceeded by far, it was just far more than what we expected. Coach Day, just everything about Ohio State, it was excellent.”

Hear more from Dean on his three contenders, why he’s limiting himself to just those three visits, his brother being drafted by the Patriots, and much more.