5-star LB Xavier Griffin set to commit next month

Two weeks ago, Gainesville (Ga.) five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin decommitted from USC. He’s already on the fast track to making another commitment.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder told On3’s Hayes Fawcett on Wednesday that he’ll announce his next decision on June 29, choosing between Alabama, Florida State, Texas and Ohio State.

Griffin is the No. 28 overall prospect and No. 2 LB in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 3 player in Georgia.

Ohio State is set to get Griffin in for an official visit this weekend. He’ll then log OVs to Alabama (June 6), Texas (June 13) and FSU (June 15) before revealing his college destination.

“My commitment has been a question for a few months now, but the hard decision has came within the last two weeks,” Griffin told On3 about his decision to decommit. “I wanted to still be able to enjoy my process and go on my official visits, but respectful of USC at the same time, so this happened after a lot of talking with my mom and praying.”

Upon decommitting, Griffin noted that he was looking to come back off the board before the beginning of his senior season. A date has now been set, with upcoming official visits set to play a crucial role in where he lands.

”I work hard every day on and off the field, so I want to enjoy this process while I can and make sure I explore all options,” Griffin said. “We only get one shot, and it wasn’t fair to USC to continue to do that while being committed to them.”

Ohio State gets shot with Griffin this weekend

As rumors swirled around Griffin’s recruitment before he backed off his commitment to USC, Ohio State was not a program mentioned much for the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder. According to Ohio State insider Alex Gleitman, however, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis has been pushing for the elite recruit.

“I think this once was a little surprising to see Ohio State mentioned for the national audience, but James Laurinaitis has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to try and get Ohio State into this one,” Gleitman told On3’s Josh Newberg on ‘The Inside Scoop’.

Alabama has been the program with the most buzz in Griffin’s process, especially now that he’s opened things back up. The Crimson Tide will be tough to beat, but Griffin will get an in-depth look at Columbus and the Big Ten program this weekend. Ohio State can’t be counted out in any five-star recruitment and it’ll look to make up some ground in the coming days.

“I still think Ohio State does have work to go,” Gleitman said. “Right now I’d have to say Alabama is probably the team to beat coming into official visits, I know Texas is in there as well, Georgia, the in-state school obviously isn’t going to go away without a fight. I would say Ohio State probably running third, maybe second in best-case scenario coming into the official visit.”