Brian Hartline keeps swinging for the fences and keeps knocking it out of the park.
Five-star prospect Emeka Egbuka, the nation's No. 1-ranked receiver and No. 9 overall player in the 2021 class, has committed to Ohio State.
Thank you to all who helped me get to this point. Time to start a new chapter .. pic.twitter.com/caZGpfRj3B
— Emeka Egbuka (@emeka_egbuka) December 12, 2020
The Buckeyes have now landed the No. 1 or No. 2 receiver in four consecutive classes, each of whom is a top-20 overall player:
- 2019: Garrett Wilson (No. 20 overall, No. 2 WR)
- 2020: Julian Fleming (No. 3 overall, No. 1 WR)
- 2021: Egbuka (No. 9 overall, No. 1 WR)
- 2022: Caleb Burton (No. 15 overall, No. 2 WR)
The Egbuka File
- Class: 2021
- Size: 6-foot-1/190 lbs
- Pos: WR
- School: Steilacoom High School (Steilacoom, Washington)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★★
- Composite Rank: 9
Egbuka, a senior at Steilacoom (Washington) High School, has chosen Ohio State over the other two schools in his final three, Washington and Oklahoma, with the Sooners being the Buckeyes' biggest challenger in this recruitment.
At one point, Egbuka was listed as the top-ranked athlete in America because if he wanted to put all his eggs into the defensive back basket, he could probably be a terrific cornerback at the next level. The dynamic receiver gives the Buckeyes a 6-foot-1,190-pound explosive player and gives them what will be the best receivers haul in the nation for a second straight year.
Egbuka's commitment gives the program its eighth top-100 receiver commitment between the 2020, 2021 and 2022 classes. He is the second-best in terms of ranking between the three classes and is the sixth top-70 player at receiver in those two classes:
2020:
- Fleming (No. 3 overall)
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 29)
- Gee Scott Jr. (No. 66)
- Mookie Cooper (No. 93)
2021:
- Egbuka (No. 9)
- Jayden Ballard (No. 66)
- Marvin Harrison Jr. (No. 91)
2022:
- Burton (No. 15)
Egbuka had his choice of which five-star quarterback to pair up with in Oklahoma (Caleb Williams), Washington (Egbuka's 7-on-7 teammate, Sam Huard) or Ohio State (Kyle McCord). Ohio State and Oklahoma each has a prestigious reputation of putting together high-powered offenses that consistently send its receivers to the NFL, and the Huskies had been in on Egbuka earlier than just about every program in the country.
But ultimately, a couple huge factors proved critical in Egbuka's decision to choose Ohio State. One is the Buckeyes' receiver-friendly offense, one that Colby Davies, Egbuka's head coach at Steilacoom, says “doesn't put their players in bad situations.”
“They do a good job, and it’s definitely an offense that’s caught Emeka’s eye,” Davies told Eleven Warriors this week. “He loves watching it, and I know he’s gonna love to be a part of an offense like that.”
It was also buoyed by a strong relationship with Hartline, one that began when he made a visit to see Egbuka during his sophomore year. (Hartline was also one of the first coaches in America to visit Fleming as a sophomore).
“One of the things that factored into Mek’s decision for his commitment that was a huge deal is Mek never takes the easy way out,” Davies said. “He wants to be challenged, and he wants things to be difficult. And he knows with Coach Hartline he’s gonna get pushed every day. He’s gonna be coached hard to be as good as he can possibly be.”
| NAME | POSITION | OVERALL RANKING | POSITION RANKING | DATE OF COMMITMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JACK SAWYER | DE | No. 4 | No. 3 | FEBRUARY 3, 2019 |
| KYLE MCCORD | QB | No. 25 | No. 3 (PRO-STYLE) | APRIL 30, 2019 |
| JAYDEN BALLARD | WR | No. 66 | No. 8 | JUNE 21, 2019 |
| BEN CHRISTMAN | OG | No. 124 | No. 6 | JUNE 26, 2019 |
| REID CARRICO | LB | No. 84 | No. 5 (ILB) | SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 |
| MARVIN HARRISON JR. | WR | No. 91 | No. 15 | OCTOBER 31, 2019 |
| SAM HART | TE | No. 389 | No. 15 | DECEMBER 30, 2019 |
| JAYLEN JOHNSON | S | No. 408 | No. 29 | JANUARY 7, 2020 |
| DONOVAN JACKSON | OG | No. 17 | No. 1 | JANUARY 8, 2020 |
| MIKE HALL | DT | No. 49 | No. 4 | FEBRUARY 1, 2020 |
| JAKAILIN JOHNSON | CB | No. 47 | No. 3 | MARCH 15, 2020 |
| EVAN PRYOR | RB | No. 81 | No. 2 (APB) | MARCH 16, 2020 |
| ANDRE TURRENTINE | S | No. 167 | No. 9 | MARCH 17, 2020 |
| TREVEYON HENDERSON | RB | No. 24 | No. 1 | MARCH 27, 2020 |
| JANTZEN DUNN | S | No. 202 | No. 12 | APRIL 20, 2020 |
| JESSE MIRCO | P | N/A | No. 5 | MAY 6, 2020 |
| DENZEL BURKE | ATH | No. 192 | No. 8 (ATH) | MAY 24, 2020 |
| JORDAN HANCOCK | CB | No. 67 | No. 4 | JULY 19, 2020 |
| TYLEIK WILLIAMS | DT | No. 161 | No. 12 | AUGUST 27, 2020 |
| ZEN MICHALSKI | OT | No. 333 | No. 24 | OCTOBER 3, 2020 |
| EMEKA EGBUKA | WR | No. 9 | No. 1 | DECEMBER 11, 2020 |
Day followed Hartline's initial visit with a trip of his own to Washington soon after, and that was just as important. He became the first college head coach to step foot inside the small hallways of Steilacoom, and it made a lasting impression on both Egbuka and Davies.
“It was definitely a big impact (when Day visited),” Egbuka told Eleven Warriors in late October. “Being from a small town like Steilacoom, head coaches of huge universities with top-five or top-10 programs coming through a little high school like that is pretty cool.”
Egbuka returned the favor by visiting Columbus during his spring break as a sophomore to camp with the Buckeyes. He returned on Oct. 26 for the Buckeyes' 38-7 victory over Wisconsin, and the rain-soaked atmosphere at the Shoe actually kind of made the Washington native feel even more at home, he talked about in jest.
That game wound up being the only college game Egbuka went to see outside of Washington while his high school season was still ongoing, and that was an extra indicator Ohio State was a top player in his recruitment.
Now that Egbuka is committed, he adds to an already stacked receivers room. Big Ten programs will have a difficult time trying to figure out how they are going to defend Egbuka, Fleming and this next wave of Buckeye receivers.
Egbuka is going to sign with Ohio State next week, but he has not yet decided if he will enroll early. His plan has been to stick with Steilacoom for one more season to gun for a state championship and to break receiving records after Washington pushed its high school football to the spring.
But with the state in limbo in regards to whether football will still be played in the spring, Egbuka has a tough decision to make on whether or not he wants to remain in Washington or begin his Ohio State career early.
