Over the course of the Rivals.com-era (since the class of 2002) the Buckeyes have signed 33 five-stars over that range of time (plus have three committed in the class of 2021, but no players are signed as of yet).

That got us thinking about the players that make up that group of 30-plus players, they have come from points near and far, some have gone on to have great collegiate careers and professional careers while others never really made a mark and then there are a lot of players that fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

We got to thinking and decided now was as good of a time as any to do a “By the numbers” in terms of Ohio State’s previous five-star players.

12: Of the 36 players associated with the Buckeyes, 12 of them are from the state of Ohio, with 11 having signed or have already played for the Buckeyes and one play, Jack Sawyer, committed in the class of 2021. Ohio State’s first six five-star commits in the Rivals.com-era were all from the state of Ohio and eight of their first 10. A lot of that just has to show the recruiting strategy of Jim Tressel to build a fence around the state of Ohio and then work outside of the state in a few areas of strength.