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Ohio State Recruiting: Bucks land their QB

By Chris Bruns

LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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Urban Meyer and Ryan Day flipped Michigan State quarterback commit Dwan Mathis after a surprise official visit over the weekend. What does it mean for the Ohio State recruiting class?

The Buckeyes landed their signal caller for the 2019 Ohio State recruiting class on Sunday, flipping Michigan State QB Dwan Mathis. The 6’5″, 195 lb prospect out of Oak Park, MI is the number 9 pro-style passer in the 2019 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the number 251 player overall.

Mathis announced his decision on Twitter.

Mathis received a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes in May. But by then, he’d already moved on after failing to earn an offer during his performance at the 2017 Friday Night Lights camp. Feeling spurned, Mathis signed on with Sparty. There was a sense, though, that OSU’s offer made an impact, even as Mathis insisted he was “100% committed.”

That sense was magnified when Mathis showed up on a surprise official visit to Columbus this weekend.

In hindsight, the visit alone should have been enough to predict that Mathis would join the class. After all, Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio is infamous for forbidding commitments to visit other schools. Mathis’ appearance at FNL effectively ended his time as an MSU commit.

But the staff muddied the waters during the camp by extending an offer to 3-star Florida QB Brian Maurer. Maurer is a fast-rising prospect who wowed observers at the Elite 11 quarterback camp in June, going toe-to-toe with higher ranking players. An Ohio State offer was thought to be a game changer in his recruitment.

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But, perhaps, it was simply a goad to land the player the Buckeyes wanted all along. Seeing the staff offer another quarterback during his official visit may have spurred Mathis to secure his spot in the class sooner rather than later.

The Maurer offer might have been a plan B, just in case Mathis decided to honor his previous pledge. In the crazy world of quarterback recruiting, that plan B might still become necessary. Witness the case of Jones, Emory.

In any event, the Buckeyes finally got their man — for now, anyway.

Next: Keita Bates-Diop's NBA chances

Mathis becomes the 12th commitment in the 2019 recruiting class, pushing the Buckeyes to number 9 in the overall team rankings.

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