Michigan standout affirms plan to sign with Buckeyes

4-star recruit will initially play on both sides of ball for OSU.

The biggest question left for Ohio State’s 2020 recruiting class has been answered.

Cameron Martinez announced this week he is going to sign with the Buckeyes on National Signing Day next week.

“I couldn’t be more excited and thankful to Coach Day and the rest of the Coaching staff!!!” he wroteon Twitter, adding that is a lifelong dream.

A four-star prospect from Muskegon, Mich., the 5-foot-11, 183pound Martinez is rated as an “athlete” by 247Sports and the No. 325 player in their composite rankings.

He is the No. 8 player in the state of Michigan and the twotime player of the year in the Wolverine State.

A week ago he told The Detroit Free Press he was still leaning hard toward Ohio State but had yet to make a final decision.

“Right now it’s Ohio State, at the moment,” he said in a story dated Jan. 21. “I plan on signing with Ohio State.”

However, he confirmed the exit of secondary coach Jeff Hafley to become head coach at Boston College in December gave him second thoughts because he has not decided if he wants to play offense or defense in college.

“And they don’t really know,” he said. “They’re going to start out playing me on both sides of the ball, and then whichever one they like better or what I feel comfortable with, we’re just going to go from there.”

That left him needing to meet Hafley’s replacement, Kerry Coombs, something that happened later last week.

“If I do fall in love with defense, it’s going to come down a lot to

who’s going to develop me,” Martinez explained to the Free Press.

He joins a team that has needs at both receiver and in the secondary, the latter being more urgent, but in both cases he is also part of a large group of players signing with Ohio State for 2020.

If Ohio State lists his position as “athlete” in its official release on National Signing Day next week, he will join a select list.

Since 2001, 10 players have had that distinction, a group that has produced some interesting results: Troy Smith, Verlon Reed, Adam Griffin, Dontre Wilson, Darron Lee, Gareon Conley, Malik Harrison, Brendon White, Alex Williams and Craig Young.

Three went on to become NFL Draft picks (so far) and six became starters while the career path of some is still to be determined.

Smith, of course, is the most notable. The first Ohio State recruit from Glenville High School in Cleveland, he was overshadowed by Justin Zwick in the class of 2002 and first saw the field as a kick returner.

Ultimately Smith overtook Zwick as the starting quarterback and led the Buckeyes to two Big Ten championships and a national championship game. He also won the 2006 Heisman Trophy and went on to be drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.

The other two to be drafted so far are Darron Lee and Gareon Conley, both Ohio high school products who signed in 2013 and became defensive standouts.

Griffin, the son of twotime Heisman winner Archie, played special teams for the

Buckeyes while Wilson, a highly touted prospect from DeSoto, Texas, became a starting slot receiver.

Reed and White transferred, though White was a starter for a season before opting to take his talents to Rutgers. Williams reportedly has entered the transfer portal, too, after two seasons.

Young, the only out-ofstate recruit on this list besides Wilson, still has three seasons left after the Fort Wayne, Ind., native settled in at linebacker last fall.

Harrison is another success story, having led the Buckeyes in tackles last season with 75. He also had 16.5 tackles for loss and is likely to be the next Ohio State “athlete” signee to hear his named called during the NFL Draft.

That would make four of seven, a much higher hit rate than the average recruit at Ohio State (roughly 30 percent).

Locking down Martinez keeps Ohio State at 25 recruits for 2020, and that will likely be the final number.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the group ranks No. 5 in the country and tops the Big Ten.

Ahead of Ohio State are No. 1 Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and LSU.

The next-best class in the Big Ten is Michigan at No. 10.

Ohio State signed 24 players at the beginning of the early signing period in late December.

The traditional National Signing Day is Feb. 5.

Having the 2020 class wrapped up has allowed coach Ryan Day and staff to concentrate on the current high school juniors.

Ohio State’s 2021 class is No. 2 in the nation behind Clemson.