Five-star DB Jaheim Singletary commits to Ohio State

These past 24 hours have gone pretty well for Buckeye Nation.

Last night, Ohio State got revenge against Clemson as they beat the Tigers in convincing fashion by a score of 49-28. They will prepare to take on Alabama on Jan. 11 with an opportunity to secure the ninth national championship in school history.

And to add even more good news on top of that, the Buckeyes have just landed a commitment from five-star defensive back Jaheim Singletary. This decision today continues a historic pace Ohio State's 2022 class is on as they now hold verbal pledges from six of the top-35 junior prospects in the nation.

Singletary has to be one of the more impressive gets for Ryan Day's staff in this cycle given the road it took for them to add him to the fold.

If you recall, Singletary released a top eight back in October that featured mostly a group of SEC programs. Less than a month later, however, Ohio State jumped into the mix and extended an offer to the No. 8 overall junior prospect on Rivals.

The Buckeyes had already been in contact with Singletary prior to him receiving the green light in November, which allowed them to be an instant contender following the offer. So, despite the nearby Florida Gators being viewed as the favorite or near the top of his leaderboard for almost a year, Ohio State started to gain all the momentum in Singletary's recruitment about a couple of weeks ago.

We are going to speak with Singletary soon to break down what led to this decision, but we know of a few factors that probably played a huge role in his commitment to OSU.

One of those factors is that Singletary views Ohio State as the real 'Defensive Back University." He said that during my conversation with him after his offer, and has taken notice of how many defensive backs the program puts into the NFL.

Another key part of his decision was that the Buckeyes have also done an exceptional job at recruiting in Jacksonville, which is where Singletary lives. Their current roster features Jacksonville natives Marcus Crowley, Tyreke Johnson and Shaun Wade, whose father, Randy, has spoken with Singletary several times in the past.

Kudos should be given to Ryan Day and his staff as well for how they made sure to carve out time and speak with his mother. Singletary had cited her as someone who will play an important role in where he ultimately goes, and Ohio State made her a priority during this process. In fact, I heard through a source that they FaceTime with her multiple times per week.

This was a huge victory for Ohio State, but the program is not yet done recruiting five-star cornerbacks in the 2022 cycle. They still remain in the hunt for Denver Harris, Domani Jackson and Will Johnson, along with several others.

If Jackson and Johnson are indeed a package deal at the next level — something both have expressed interest in during previous interviews — then the Buckeyes could potentially have a massive haul in next year's class. The combination of Singletary, along with one or possibly two of the players listed above, would give Ohio State much-needed reinforcements in the secondary come 2022.

For now, however, the Buckeyes will celebrate these two victories over the past 24 hours, and will begin preparation for their upcoming matchup against Alabama.

Also, stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove for plenty of more content following Singletary's commitment.