The wait for Jeremiah Smith to officially become a Buckeye is over.
It took longer than expected, but the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class was officially announced as an Ohio State signee on Wednesday night when he submitted his National Letter of Intent to OSU.
Jeremiah Smith Fresh off a Senior campaign that saw him rewrite record books in South Florida and culminated with a State Championship, JJ and his elite skillset land in Columbus looking to add to the legacy of elite Buckeye Wide receivers of the past. Welcome to THE pic.twitter.com/F9I6Dx3wy1
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 21, 2023
A recruitment that was never short on drama appeared to finally be over when Smith announced to a crowd at Chaminade-Madonna High School just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday that he was signing with Ohio State despite the efforts of Miami and Florida State to flip him.
5 WR Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2024, officially signs with Ohio State pic.twitter.com/EMB6T8N7on
— 247Sports (@247Sports) December 20, 2023
Ryan Day seemingly thought the drama was over at that point, too, as he was so overcome with relief that his knees buckled when Ohio State general manager Mark Pantoni informed him of Smith’s announcement in the middle of Day’s National Signing Day press conference, which had been scheduled for noon before it was known that Smith’s signing would still be hanging in the balance at that time.
The exact moment Ryan Day found out five-star WR Jeremiah Smith was sticking with Ohio State. Pretty evident how elated he was. pic.twitter.com/ItANvrzgvh
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) December 20, 2023
At that point, Ohio State’s official announcement of Smith’s signing appeared to be a formality. But the drama continued for nearly 10 hours before Smith finally submitted his National Letter of Intent late Wednesday night, leading to Ohio State’s official announcement of his signing just after 10 p.m.
Now, Ohio State can finally breathe easily as Smith has locked in his commitment and is set to arrive in Columbus as an early enrollee in just a few weeks.
Smith has been committed to Ohio State for more than a year, but continued to entertain interest from other schools, particularly Miami and FSU, all the way up until signing day. Miami’s interest, in particular, played a part in delaying the signing process as Smith was so close to flipping that he brought a Miami hat with him to his signing event in addition to the Ohio State hat he ultimately donned.
Jeremiah Smith said he had two hats in his bag: Miami and Ohio State. He ultimately decided in the final two minutes. He wanted to go to a place with a strong track record of first round picks. That was the difference. pic.twitter.com/OY2cy64sDq
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) December 20, 2023
It’s not hard to see why Miami and many other schools never stopped recruiting Smith – and why Ohio State fought so hard to keep him – as he is considered to be one of the best high school wide receiver prospects ever.
The highest-rated wideout to ever sign with the Buckeyes, Smith has just about every trait one could want in a receiver recruit. His combination of length, speed and ability to make spectacular catches at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds is reminiscent of current Buckeye star Marvin Harrison Jr. While those are big shoes to fill, the expectation for Smith as he starts his Buckeye career is that he will continue Ohio State’s recent trend of All-Americans and first-round picks at the wide receiver position.
With Smith’s NLI now in hand, Ohio State has signed every player it was expected to sign entering National Signing Day except for fellow wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan, who flipped to Oregon on Wednesday.
