The first recruiting class of new Ohio State head coach Ryan Day officially entered into the Buckeye fold on Wednesday with the early signing period opening.

15 players signed their national letters of intent and will enroll into the university next month to begin their academic and athletic career as an Ohio State Buckeye.

Many wondered how recruiting would be affected by Urban Meyer’s retirement and it did as some prospects flipped to other schools but for the most part, the class stayed intact over the last couple weeks and Day and his staff were able to haul in some recruits.

The biggest signing on Wednesday was five-star defensive end Zach Harrison who lives just outside of Columbus in Lewis Center.

Harrison was leaning towards Michigan throughout much of the process but he de-committed from that team up north a couple weeks ago and many thought he would stay home but he kept quiet and didn’t make his announcement until Wednesday afternoon.

Harirson was one of five commits from the Buckeye State in which Ohio State landed the #1, 3, 6, 8 and 9 ranked recruits in-state, something that Ryan Day spoke publicly about when he was named the new head coach on December 4.

The other recruit who announced his intentions today was three-star defensive tackle Jaden McKenzie out of Wake Forest, North Carolina. He chose Ohio State other UNC, Wake Forest, Clemson, Tennessee and South Carolina.

He was visited by Day and defensive line coach Larry Johnson last week and McKenzie said he chose the Buckeyes because of their academics which he intends to earn a degree in business and wants to become an entrepreneur.

McKenzie will not graduate early but stated he wanted to end his recruiting process early which is why he signed during the early period.

Ohio State was ranked 12th by 247 Sports and 20th by Rivals but if you look at the average, the Buckeyes have one of the top recruiting classes but have a lower number of commits compared to others.

There is still the National Signing Day in February and if you look at the recruiting websites, the Buckeyes are still after a lot of high school players and have more scholarships available to offer.

If you’re worried about the future of the Buckeyes program, I wouldn’t after a strong start to Ryan Day’s first recruiting class.