One of the worst kept recruiting stories of the year is officially no longer a secret. Fort Wayne, Indiana's Austin Mack is a Buckeye and he's excited about it.
"To finally announce that I'm a Buckeye," Mack told Eleven Warriors. "Is awesome. I want to thank God for the unbelievable opportunity to be in this position. I want to thank my parents and I want to thank Dre Muhammad, Mike Ledo, and the AWP staff for their great help in this process. I also want to thank the coaches who took their time and believed in me and offered me the opportunity to come to their school."
Ohio State was one of the first schools to really get involved with Mack, offering the Bishop Luers' product almost exactly a year ago. Today, in front of his future head coach and future position coach, Mack became a Buckeye, ending a year's worth of speculating and traveling from college to college. Ohio State was just the right choice.
"Ohio State is one of the best places in America," Mack said "To be able to be an Urban Meyer recruit and have the expectations to come in and play right away is huge. He was even at my commitment, which is not what a head coach does often. He and Coach Smith being here, it shows how real the relationship is. Their academics fit great and will help me get to where I want to end up. The campus is beautiful, everything about it was right. I'm going to enjoy my time there."
As important as Meyer's presence is, there's no doubt that it was the relationship between Mack and Zach Smith that put the Buckeyes over the top.
"Coach Smith is a part of the decision, for sure," Mack continued. "I mean, you can't base a decision on one position coach because things change and guys move on, but it's nice to know he should be there most of my career. Last year, when I visited and (Smith) showed me around, showed me the depth chart, how they think I could be fit into their offense, to come in and dominate and be ready; that's when I knew Ohio State was the place for me. The coaches established to me that I was their guy, and I knew it wasn't just a sales pitch. They've proven it since."
Now that he's an official member of the Buckeyes' 2016 class, Mack intends to be a very active recruiter in the Ohio State recruiting efforts. In fact, he's been doing that for a while. Last week he informed the Buckeyes about a wide receiver he wanted to play alongside, but he's played a much bigger role up to this point than anyone would know. He'll be a major piece of Ohio State's contingent in Oregon next month at The Opening.
"I've been the main recruiter for a while now," Mack revealed. "I was the first guy to get Kareem Walker on board, we really wanted him to be a future Buckeye. I plan on continuing getting the best classes in America year in, year out. I will help as much as possible."
Mack is ready to get himself to Columbus. He's working with the administration at Bishop Luers to enroll with Ohio State in January, although he's unsure if that is going to happen at this time. For now, he's going to take some time for himself and enjoy a break from the madness of recruiting.
"Right now, honestly, it's a relief to know this part of it is over," Mack concluded. "Now I can finally show out for the greatest fans in America. I'll be a Buckeye and rocking that number 11 in 2016."
