With roughly 30 to 40 offers on his resume, five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen was ready to narrow down his recruitment on Friday.

Nolen, the top-ranked defensive tackle on Rivals, decided to unveil his top 10 this morning, with Ohio State being one of the schools that made the cut. Also landing on Nolen's list were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and USC.

Focusing in on the Buckeyes, Nolen has had legitimate interest in the program for quite a while now.

In fact, Nolen listed OSU as one of his two favorites, alongside LSU, three months before he even received an offer from the coaching staff. Nolen had been in touch with Ryan Day's staff for several months prior to them dipping into the mix, and had heard good things about Ohio State from former commit Tunmise Adeleye.

Fast forward four months from his offer in October, and the Buckeyes are viewed as one of the top options for the No. 4 overall junior in the country. During an in-depth video interview with Rivals.com's Chad Simmons, Nolen opened up about d-line coach Larry Johnson, and what it would mean for him to be able to learn under his tutelage.

"Just watching his d-lineman play, you can tell he's coaching them to be the best they can be at all times," Nolen said of Johnson. "It would sound good to be able to call myself one of his players, one day hopefully. Or maybe just being one of the people who can say I got some tips from Coach Johnson himself."

Nolen also went on to say that Johnson speaks him with once or twice a week. He said Johnson is a laid-back recruiter that hasn't pressured him during his pursuit of Nolen.

Nolen also spoke with Simmons just over a week ago about the Buckeyes and what is appealing to him about them. The Cordova, Tennessee, prospect noted that he's also looking forward to visiting Columbus whenever the dead period ends.

"I have always liked Ohio State, so it was an offer I was hoping to get, and I got it," Nolen previously said. "It meant a lot to get it, and I had a lot of interest in them before I even had the offer... I know I want to visit Ohio State as soon as we can get back out."

Thus far, Nolen says the only schools he has checked out are Alabama, LSU and Tennessee. He's not yet sure when he will make his decision, but it appears as if Nolen wants to take visits before committing.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.