It gets even better. They are claiming they played by the rules (aside from Tattoo fate), and now they can finally compete fairly. I don’t have the heart to remind them about Pryor’s car hook up (or AJ Hawk’s fat stacks he kept in his dorm room)
It's been pretty clear that OSU is not offering NIL deals the way the Texas schools or some others are. Neither are Michigan, ND, or other regional powers here in the north. They've been clear that they offer NIL to players once they're in the program, but not as recruiting cash handouts.
Lots of recruiting insiders have reported this.
Remains to be seen whether that's the right or wrong approach, but OSU -- like us -- is playing the NIL game very different than oil-rich powers down south. If they continue to lose elite kids, I suspect that will change. Although they still landed one of the top classes in terms of average rating in the modern era.