Ohio State just got one of its biggest booms in the 2021 class, landing its third-highest ranked running back in the last 20 years.
Five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson, the No. 2-ranked player at the position and the No. 17-ranked overall prospect, has committed to the Buckeyes.
Thank you God.. #COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/OU8WhMbRnU
— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreveyonH15) March 27, 2020
The Henderson File
- Class: 2021
- Size: 5-foot-11/195 lbs
- Pos: RB
- School: Hopewell (Hopewell, Va.)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★★
- Composite Rank: 2 RB
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound back out of Hopewell (Va.) High School was expected to have one of the busiest springs and summers of any recruit in the nation, with unofficial visits spread out across the campuses of Ohio State, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia and official visits scheduled to Oklahoma, Texas and Michigan.
Henderson also had plenty of major interest from Georgia, Alabama and LSU among his 40 total offers, but this recruitment mainly came down to Ohio State and Oklahoma as Lincoln Riley's offense also offered him a great avenue to show off his skillset.
This was supposed to be a long wait for Henderson, who had planned to take his due diligence and slow play his recruitment until he could see as many colleges as possible and developing as many relationships with coaches and players as he could.
But with the coronavirus outbreak canceling spring practices and recruiting trips nationwide, that timeline was sped up, as he told Eleven Warriors on Monday, “I see a lot of recruits are speeding their (recruitments) up, and I’m not trying to miss out on any opportunities.”
Now the Buckeyes have their running back room of the future completely figured out with Evan Pryor and Henderson in the fold.
Similar to when J.K. Dobbins committed in the 2017 class, Henderson has never been to Columbus or stepped foot on Ohio State's campus. But despite that, Tony Alford was able to land one of the best running back talents in the entire country, arguably the best, because of the tight bond the two share and the information about the school and program he provided.
“Coach Alford’s been sending me a lot of things,” Henderson said. “I know a lot about Ohio State even having not visited there. He’s sent me a lot of stuff about the football program; just information that I need, and I didn’t even have to tell him, like, ‘Coach, can you send me this?’ He just sends it out of nowhere so that helps a lot.”
| NAME | POSITION | OVERALL RANKING | POSITION RANKING | DATE OF COMMITMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JACK SAWYER | DE | No. 2 | No. 2 | FEBRUARY 3, 2019 |
| KYLE MCCORD | QB | No. 22 | No. 3 (PRO-STYLE) | APRIL 30, 2019 |
| JAYDEN BALLARD | WR | No. 71 | No. 12 | JUNE 21, 2019 |
| BEN CHRISTMAN | OT | No. 106 | No. 15 | JUNE 26, 2019 |
| REID CARRICO | LB | No. 73 | No. 2 (ILB) | SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 |
| MARVIN HARRISON JR. | WR | No. 57 | No. 8 | OCTOBER 31, 2019 |
| SAM HART | TE | No. 387 | No. 16 | DECEMBER. 30, 2019 |
| JAYLEN JOHNSON | S | No. 344 | No. 17 | JANUARY 7, 2020 |
| DONOVAN JACKSON | OG | No. 36 | No. 1 | JANUARY 8, 2020 |
| MIKE HALL | DT | No. 92 | No. 8 | FEBRUARY 1, 2020 |
| JAKAILIN JOHNSON | CB | No. 59 | No. 4 | MARCH 15, 2020 |
| DEVONTA SMITH | CB | No. 428 | No. 31 | MARCH 16, 2020 |
| EVAN PRYOR | RB | No. 85 | No. 6 | MARCH 16, 2020 |
| ANDRE TURRENTINE | S | No. 136 | No. 6 | MARCH 17, 2020 |
| TREVEYON HENDERSON | RB | No. 17 | No. 2 | MARCH 27, 2020 |
Alford and Ryan Day were two of the biggest reasons for Henderson's recruitment, but Al Washington was the first to begin recruiting Henderson and was also a key factor.
During Washington's tenure at Michigan, he began recruiting Henderson as a defensive back during the Hopewell standout's freshman and sophomore seasons. Washington recruits the DMV area very well, and when he took the Ohio State job in January 2019, he continued recruiting the area for the Buckeyes with Henderson being one of the first players he reached out to.
Henderson eventually began forming a relationship with Alford, and Alford offered him in mid-September. He now becomes the Buckeyes' 15th overall commitment, the 10th player ranked inside the top 100 and third player ranked inside the top 25 that the Buckeyes have landed in the 2021 cycle, as Day's second full class continues to grow into something special.
Henderson, the state of Virginia's third-ranked prospect, will be the third-highest ranked running back the Buckeyes have ever signed, in rankings that date back to 2000. Beanie Wells (No. 7 overall; No. 1 RB) in 2009 and Sam Maldonado (No. 9 overall; No. 2 RB) in 2000 are the only other higher-ranked players. Henderson is just above Maurice Clarrett (No. 35 overall; No. 5 RB) in those rankings.
