Former Buckeyes defensive back Andre Turrentine commits to Tennessee
COLUMBUS — A former Ohio State defensive back has found a new home: Andre Turrentine committed to Tennessee on Monday.
A former four-star recruit in the class of 2021, Turrentine was part of a five-man defensive back haul for the Buckeyes just a year ago. He didn’t enroll early, arriving in June and beginning his career last summer before losing his black stripe in September.
But with less than a full year in the program, Turrentine wasn’t able to get on the field early and redshirted during his freshman campaign. This spring, he wasn’t making the push for playing time in Year Two. Now he’s leaving.
Ohio State is in the middle of trying to settle on which defensive backs. And the departures of Turrentine and Bryson Shaw at the safety positions in April show the Buckeyes might be getting comfortable with their safety rotation, and those who aren’t in the mix are looking elsewhere, including other safeties Bryson Shaw and Marcus Hooker, who both started games for the Buckeyes in their career.
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Even with the losses in the secondary, Ohio State has a healthy defensive back room.
“You have to figure out: do I have one guy at that position? Then do I have two? And then if I have three, then now I can rotate guys,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said earlier this spring. “But we’re not just going to do that. It’s not Little League where everybody gets to play. We have to do it because guys deserve it. They’re putting in the work to do that.”
Andre Turrentine wasn’t going to be in that mix this fall at Ohio State, so he decided to look elsewhere after just one season with the program.
He entered the transfer portal with the intention of finding a new home, and he did just that. He is going back to his home state to play for Tennessee.