Ohio State NIL collective setting up a chapter in Florida

Ohio State NIL collective, The Foundation, unveils plans to launch Florida chapter

Plans are in place for a Florida chapter of the collective, with the hope of having an annual fundraiser in the Miami area. Some of the top talent in the country resides in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, a place where Ohio State fans also love to flock to in the wintertime. That should be a win-win for The Foundation.

"We're always adapting, we have to," Schottenstein told On3 on Thursday afternoon. "We already have the biggest brand of any collective in Ohio, have raised the most money and have partnered with the most student-athletes. This just continues to build our brand even bigger."

The Diamond and Deshe families will head up the new branch of The Foundation. Each have ties to Columbus and are notable Ohio State supporters. Schottenstein said The Foundation has already secured an endowment in the hundreds of thousands committed to the Florida venture.

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Conversations have already started about even having Ohio State wide receiver coach and former Miami Dolphins wideout Brian Hartline come down for an event. For Deshe and Schottenstein, making sure the Buckeyes have a presence in the recruiting hotbed is the real factor.

The current 2023 class has 56 recruits from Florida ranked in the On300. And in the last five years, 144 athletes from the Sunshine State have heard their names called in the NFL Draft. It's the second highest, only trailing Texas.

"Once we have this in place, it will be an even better pitch for when Ohio State is talking to a Florida high school student," Schottenstein said. "That we're really focusing on Florida athletes and the Buckeyes that are from there."

This is the kind of thing that boosters can put their money towards when the university gets enough money from its TV deal that they don't need the fundraising to pay the bills. The longer we stay in the ACC, the further behind we fall.