Buckeyes reserve defensive back Andre Turrentine enters transfer portal

COLUMBUS — Another Ohio State defensive back is leaving the program: Second-year safety Andre Turrentine has entered the transfer portal.

Turrentine is the latest Buckeyes defensive back to enter the transfer portal, becoming the third since the end of spring football as the depth chart begins to take shape after spring camp heading into summer.

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.

It’s a reality of college football, especially in the defensive backfield where the Buckeyes have stockpiled depth and talent this spring.

“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. After just one year with the Buckeyes program, Turrentine is looking to make an impact elsewhere. He entered the transfer portal with the intention of doing just that.