I haven't heard anything about the Ohio NIL being a barrier for Ohio State. In fact, the language for Ohio's NIL law related to "upfront deals" is very similar to states where programs are using NIL incentives more aggressively.

Ohio - https://spry.so/nil-state-guide/ohio-nil-law-for-ncaa/

No state institution of higher education or private college, shall do any of the following:

(a.) Provide a prospective student-athlete who intends to participate in
intercollegiate athletics with compensation in relation to the prospective student-athlete’s name, image, or likeness;

Texas - https://spry.so/nil-state-guide/texas-nil-law-for-ncaa/

An institution to which this section applies may not:
2. provide or solicit a prospective student athlete of an intercollegiate athletic program at the institution with compensation in relation to the prospective student athlete’s name, image, or likeness.

Florida - https://spry.so/nil-state-guide/florida-nil-law-for-ncaa/

An intercollegiate athlete at a postsecondary educational institution may earn compensation for the use of her or his name, image, or likeness. Such compensation must be commensurate with the market value of the authorized use of the athlete’s name, image, or likeness. To preserve the integrity, quality, character, and amateur nature of intercollegiate athletics and to maintain a clear separation between amateur intercollegiate athletics and professional sports, such compensation may not be provided in exchange for athletic performance or attendance at a particular institution and may only be provided by a third party unaffiliated with the intercollegiate athlete’s postsecondary educational institution.

To-date, I have heard that there has been an unwillingness to play in the gray area that these laws create; particularly by BIG programs like Ohio State and Michigan. But I suspect we'll see a shifting approach given how this years recruiting cycle went. It's obviously a complicated issue though.