Nowadays, players are often looking to make an early jump from high school to college, electing to enroll in January instead of arriving during the summer months. The Buckeyes' 2017 class is shaping up to potentially feature more early enrollees than ever before, but it may have the staff in a bit of a tricky spot.
Like many of the nation's other premier programs, Ohio State has benefitted greatly from early arrivals in the past.
In 2014, players like Raekwon McMillan and Curtis Samuel arrived about five months before their fellow classmates. As a true freshman, Samuel tallied nearly 500 yards of total offense while finding the endzone six times. McMillan, who shared time with senior Curtis Grant, recorded over 50 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and an interception.
So far in 2016, several early enrollees are already making their presence felt. Seven players made their move to Columbus in January. Thus far, Austin Mack is expected to see the field at wide receiver, Jonathon Cooper will look to make an impact coming off the edge, and Antonio Williams is in line to see plenty of carries as a true freshman.
The most impressive feat so far? How about Michael Jordan appearing to be penciled in as a starter at guard.
An early enrollee for the 2016 class, Michael Jordan is in line to start against Bowling Green in just four short weeks.
The benefits of getting several months of extra work in are impossible to miss. Perhaps the biggest plus for these players is the extra time with Mickey Marotti as they look to transform themselves into more college-ready specimens.
The 2017 class is shaping up to be a bit unique as it appears more and more commitments (and future commitments) are looking to get started early. While the various NCAA and admissions loopholes make it difficult to pinpoint an exact "cap" on the number, it's become fairly obvious that Ohio State may be in a tricky spot.
Of the 16 current pledges, the majority of them have expressed a desire to enroll in January. While all of the details obviously have yet to be hammered down and a lot is still subject to change, the most commonly mentioned names include Josh Myers, Jake Moretti, J.K. Dobbins, Shaun Wade, Marcus Williamson, Isaiah Pryor, Brendon White, and Amir Riep.
Quarterback commit Tate Martell has also discussed the possibility as has top wide receiver target Tyjon Lindsey, who is set to announce his college choice on Aug. 22. Five-star safety Jeffrey Okudah, who may very well be the staff's top remaining target, is also planning on enrolling early.
The concerns surrounding early enrollees seemed to surface back in April when Lamont Wade began expressing some doubts about the open spots in Columbus.
It was long thought that Wade, who is a five-star prospect on Rivals.com, would end up signing with Ohio State. However, the numbers crunch reared its ugly head over the spring, and while things seem to have been addressed since then, the 5-foot-9, 185-pounder may be leaning toward Happy Valley now.
Back in 2013, the NCAA implemented a rules change regarding financial aid agreements and players who are on track to graduate high school early. While the rules have since been tweaked a bit, the general premise is still the same as the school is obligated to the player and not vice versa. One of the more recent changes means that schools can now be punished if a player signs a financial aid agreement and doesn't end up enrolling at the school.
This stems from a number of situations – most notably Dalvin Cook in 2014 – where a player signed an agreement with multiple schools. Cook had signed with Florida, Florida State, and Miami before ultimately electing to play for the Seminoles.
Last year, Les Miles found out the hard way as the Bayou Bengals were hit with recruiting sanctions stemming from an expected early enrollee who ended up signing elsewhere.
LSU is banned from signing early enrollee recruits to financial aid agreements for the next two years, and the program will be stripped of 10 percent of its recruiting evaluation days in 2015, according to public records obtained by The Advocate.
The recruit signed a financial aid agreement with LSU, intending to enroll early in January and giving the school unlimited contact with him. But he decided not to enroll at the school. That makes at least some of LSU’s unlimited contact with the prospect illegal. Via
So what does it all mean for Ohio State and the next five months leading up to January? It means the nation's top-rated recruiting class may be in a bit of a predicament.
Seemingly every current pledge has at least entertained the idea of enrolling early, which means the staff is going to have some decisions to make. The signing of financial aid paperwork could be very telling in the months to come. With some current commits still looking around at other schools, the signing of paperwork with Ohio State could be indicative of the staff's thoughts on ultimately bringing them in for the spring semester.
This coming January should see even more early arrivals than the seven we saw for the Class of 2016, but the staff is also going to have some difficult decisions to make over the next several months.
