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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/13 - 3 new commits, national championship reaction

Get caught up with the latest Ohio State recruiting news.

By Ian Cuevas
Nothing was better on Monday than winning the national championship.
Nothing was better on Monday than winning the national championship.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Ohio State got the job done, plain and simple. As the Buckeyes cruised in the fourth quarter en route to their 42-20 national championship win over the Oregon Ducks on Monday night, commits and recruits alike shared their thoughts (and for some, a little more) on the Buckeyes and the win. Perhaps the biggest news of the day was the three commits Ohio State picked up before and during the national championship game.

Wade commits:

The first domino to fall on Monday was '17 cornerback Shaun Wade. Wade gave his verbal commitment to Ohio State hours before the national championship game bout with Oregon, kicking off what would end up being quite a night for the Buckeye faithful across the country. The 6'2, 175-pound corner from Jacksonville is rated as a four-star prospect and is ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the country, including the second best corner in the nation and third best player at any position from the state of Florida.

Wade held offers from Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, UCLA, Utah, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin, among others. Considering it's still early in his recruitment, expect Wade to continue receiving offers from other top programs such as Alabama or Auburn, etc.

Five-star RB picks the Bucks:

Perhaps the biggest recruiting news of the night as was the surprise announcement that '16 running back Kareem Walker had committed to Ohio State. Walker, a 6'1, 210-pound running back, is rated as a five-star and ranked as the ninth-best player in the country, number one running back in the nation, and best prospect overall at any position from the state of New Jersey, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Walker's commitment came as a bit of a surprise considering most of the 247Sports Crystal Ball experts had Walker electing to go to Alabama. Some even thought he'd end up with Penn State or Rutgers, but obviously Walker saw something on Monday night that he liked (Ezekiel Elliott, anyone?) and decided to pull the trigger on committing to Ohio State.

Top QB Recruit weighs in:

'16 quarterback Dwayne Haskins is one of the top QB recruits in the country and while he's strongly considering Ohio State, even he was taken by surprise on Monday night when Kareem Walker committed to the Buckeyes during the national championship game. Apparently, this was a predetermined notion that Walker had talked about with Haskins in person, which could mean good things for the Buckeyes when it comes to Haskins' recruitment.

The 6'2, 185-pound pro-style quarterback is rated as a four-star and the fifth best pro-style quarterback in the country, in addition to the third-best prospect at any position from the state of Maryland, according to the 247Sports Composite. As of now, the Crystal Ball has Ohio State (61 percent) as the favorite to land Haskins, followed by Maryland (29 percent) and Penn State (6 percent).

Third commit of the day goes Buckeyes' way:

Finally, to cap off the extremely satisfying night, Ohio State picked up their third commit of the day from '17 quarterback Bruce Judson. Judson is just as big of a grab for the Buckeyes as Kareem Walker, as the duo could form one of the deadliest backfields in all of college football in a few years. Judson is a 5'10, 170-pound athlete/quarterback with legitimate 4.40 40-yard dash speed and is rated as a four-star prospect.

Judson is also ranked as the 17th-best prospect in the class of 2017, while also being ranked as the third-best athlete in the country and fourth-best player at any position from the state of Florida. While 92 percent of the Crystal Ball experts had Judson pegged as an Ohio State commit, landing him with Walker was the cherry on top of the Ohio State-flavored sundae that came with the main course of the national championship win.

Reactions from commits

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