Five-star RB TreVeyon Henderson’s commitment influenced why Ohio State football’s 2021 class ‘shoots for high goals’: Buckeyes Recruiting Roundup
Five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson of Hopewell (Va.) High School has never set foot on Ohio State’s campus, but that didn’t keep him from joining the Buckeyes’ top-rated 2021 recruiting class.
“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see,” Henderson told cleveland.com. “I knew about all the colleges that offered me. I did my research with the coaches and talked to the coaches a lot. I felt more comfortable with The Ohio State University. The coaches, environment, the culture, it’s all great.”
It’s not clear when he’ll finally visit Columbus and see the place he’ll call home for at least three years. The NCAA has extended the recruiting moratorium three times with no hint whether a fourth time is an option.
But he did his research on Ohio State and the other eight finalists before deciding in March. He knows he’s made the right decision, and now he’s using his experience to help recruit some of other highly touted targets such as WR Emeka Egbuka, OT Tristan Leigh and DE J.T. Tuimoloau.
“I use that ‘I didn’t visit, but I still committed’ to my advantage,” Henderson said. “That gets to a lot of the recruits and makes them feel like, ‘Well, if he committed it must be something good about Ohio State.’ That’ll make them want to commit.”
He isn’t the first top-100 running back to choose Ohio State without stepping on campus. J.K. Dobbins did so before joining a 2017 class that would eventually rank second in the country. Dobbins would run for 4,459 yards — including a school-record 2,003 in 2019 — and 38 touchdowns on 725 carries before being the Baltimore Ravens’ second-round draft pick.
Henderson is the nation’s top running back and No. 16 overall player. He’s the first five-star running back to commit to Ohio State since Beanie Wells in 2006. He and North Carolina four-star Evan Pryor helped correct the running back recruiting woes of the past three recruiting cycles.
Just as important, he’s probably the main reason some of his fellow commits have outlandish goals, such as winning three national titles.
His commitment changed the mindset from this being just another No. 1 recruiting class to one that competes with some of the best of the modern era. His words, whether in a group chat or across social media, show how the other 18 players in the class feel. They all think this class can be special, and it starts with Henderson.
“Everybody’s on the same page," Henderson said. "We all talked about how many championships we’re going to win. We all agreed to three. That’s what I love about us. We don’t shoot for low goals. We shoot for high goals. Goals that seem unachievable.”
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