North Carolina flips 4-star safety Jakob Weatherspoon from Ohio State

Avon (Ohio) four-star safety Jakob Weatherspoon has flipped his commitment from Ohio State to North Carolina, he told Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett on Wednesday.

Pledged to the Buckeyes since Jan. 2, Weatherspoon is now set to leave his home state at the next level and help headline a budding pledge list in Chapel Hill under new head coach Bill Belichick.

Weatherspoon is the No. 177 overall prospect and No. 17 safety in the 2026 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 8 prospect in Ohio.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder now becomes the second highest-ranked commit in the UNC class, behind four-star wide receiver Keeyun Chapman. On Monday, Weatherspoon was tabbed as the No. 11 safety in the initial Rivals300 rankings.

Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan were among the other programs in contention for Weatherspoon before his January pledge to Ohio State. North Carolina jumped in with an offer at the end of February, and almost five months later, it has pulled off one of the more surprising flips of the 2026 cycle.

Weatherspoon won a state championship with Avon in 2024 and is poised to make his mark as one of, if not the top defensive player in the Buckeye State this fall. Ohio State was recruiting Weatherspoon as a cornerback.

UNC adds Weatherspoon to Top-20 class

Weatherspoon becomes the fourth blue-chipper to join the Tar Heels’ class this month, flanking Houston Cy-Ranch Rivals four-star linebacker Calvin Thomas, Chapman and Bluffton (S.C.) four-star WR Carnell Warren. The UNC class now features seven four-stars.

Mount Olive (N.C.) North Duplin four-star defensive lineman Trashawn Ruffin, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson four-star quarterback Travis Burgess and Rolesville (N.C.) four-star EDGE Zavion Griffin-Haynes also sit atop the class to date.

Ruffin flipped to UNC from Texas A&M in March and ranks as the No. 32 DL in the nation. Burgess chose the Tar Heels over Auburn last month and has since seen his stock rise ahead of his senior campaign. He’s now the nation’s No. 14 QB. Griffin-Haynes decommitted from UNC as the program transitioned from Mack Brown to Belichick, but he jumped back in the boat alongside his twin brother Jayden Griffin-Haynes on June 5. Jackson (Miss.) Wesson three-star WR O’Mari Johnson also committed earlier this month.

Cleveland native and IMG Academy (Fla.) three-star interior offensive lineman Will Conroy flipped from Oklahoma on June 18. Other commitments last month included: Pittsburgh Central Catholic three-star EDGE Ashton Blatt, Monroe (La.) Neville three-star safety Julian Burns and Westlake (Ohio) St. Edward three-star IOL Mason Wilhelm and others.