The Ohio State football team is preparing to welcome a brand new class of Buckeyes. 
Wednesday is National Signing Day, the first day in which a recruit can officially sign a letter of intent to the school of his choice.

OSU has several top prospects from Ohio and throughout the country already committed, and are waiting on the decisions of a select few.

Offensive tackle Andrew Norwell, a five-star prospect from Anderson High School in Cincinnati, headlines the class for the Buckeyes. He was one of OSU’s first commits in the 2010 recruiting class, and will add to the depth to the ever-important offensive line.

OSU always features some of the best linebackers in the Big Ten, and will add two more solid prospects from Ohio. Scott McVey, a middle linebacker from Cleveland St. Ignatius and linebacker Jamel Turner from Fork Union Military Academy are two top-10 prospects at their positions.

The 2010 class, however, sits lower in the overall team rankings than the last two classes the Buckeyes have signed. The class of 18 commits rank No. 17 overall by national recruiting Web site Scout.com and No. 22 by Rivals.com. In comparison, OSU has been in the top five each of the last two years, according to both sites.

The Buckeyes have had several in-state prospects decide to go elsewhere. Coach Jim Tressel has put up a proverbial fence around Ohio since taking over at the helm for OSU, with very few top prospects escaping his grasp. This season, however, several of the most elite prospects chose to go elsewhere instead of coming to Columbus.

On Friday Ohio’s top prospect, linebacker Jordan Hicks of Lakota West High School, picked Texas over OSU and Florida. Several other top prospects, including Spencer Ware of Cincinnati Princeton and Latwan Anderson of Cleveland Glenville decided against being Buckeyes. These three prospects are considered some of the best in Ohio, according to Rivals.com.

Regardless of how OSU has done so far, there are still some prospects left that could make this recruiting season one to remember for the Scarlet and Gray.

Seantrel Henderson – Offensive Lineman (6’8″ 301 St. Paul, Minn.)
Choices: OSU, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, USC

Henderson is widely considered the country’s No. 1 prospect.

The mammoth offensive tackle is so physically gifted and dominant that he has been compared to past greats such as Jonathan Ogden and the Buckeyes’ own Orlando Pace. A two-sport star, most believe Henderson could play college basketball as well due to his athletic ability. Sports Illustrated described him as “the most polished lineman of the past decade.”

How good is Henderson? He became the first lineman in history to be named the All-USA Offensive Player of the Year, an award usually reserved for quarterbacks, running backs and wideouts.

As for where he will attend next year, Henderson has played his recruiting very quietly, never naming a clear-cut leader. He could potentially decide on any of his top choices without it being much of a surprise.

For the Buckeyes, however, speculation is beginning to surface that Henderson might be wearing scarlet and gray on signing day.

OSU’s main competition for the biggest recruiting prize of the year seems to be USC.
Henderson appears to be rather partial to USC, but distance as well as recent coaching changes could benefit OSU. Notre Dame, which is closest to Henderson’s hometown, is also a threat to land his commitment.

Two years ago, OSU came up smiling when the nation’s No. 1 player, Terrelle Pryor, finally made his college decision. Could OSU do it again on Wednesday? They will know soon enough.

Henderson will make his decision known on national television at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in New York City.

Matt James – Offensive Lineman (6’8″ 280 Cincinnati, Ohio)
Choices: Ohio State, Notre Dame

James is considered the state’s best lineman after Norwell.

He is ranked as one of the top 100 prospects by both Rivals and Scout, and was a U.S Army All-American.

James attends St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, which hasn’t been as extremely kind to the Buckeyes as most in-state schools. Xavier’s last two prospects who have received offers decided against being Buckeyes, including Kyle Rudolph, who picked Notre Dame. James’ teammate and Xavier quarterback Luke Massa recently committed to Notre Dame, leaving many to speculate if that could have an effect on James’ decision.

At times throughout the process James has listed Notre Dame as his favorite, before more recently pegging OSU as the team to beat for his services.

A lot will depend on this past weekend, as James made his official visit to Notre Dame. Not much has been said about how his time went with the Fighting Irish, but if it went well, the more recent impression by Notre Dame could seal the deal.

Possible Buckeyes
A few other prospects could still end up being Buckeyes come signing day.

Latwan Anderson, a defensive back from Cleveland Glenville, picked West Virginia over OSU on national television at the U.S Army All-American game on Jan. 9.

However, Anderson is still believed to be wavering between his two choices, with many thinking OSU could be the eventual destination for the blue-chip prospect.

Glenville has long been a flowing pipeline school for Ohio State. Products such as Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Rob Rose and Ray Small are a few of the Tarblooders who have attended OSU. Every recruiting season, OSU seems to land the top players from the Cleveland institution, but has to this point only landed defensive back Christian Bryant this year.

If OSU could gain a letter-of-intent from Anderson, it would keep the flourishing connection with Glenville at the highest level.

Another name being mentioned as a possible surprise commitment Wednesday is offensive lineman Morgan Moses.

Moses was a U.S Army All-American in 2009 and committed to Virginia, but due to grade issues spent a year at Fork Union Military Academy. He showed strong interest in OSU last year, and some believe he has always had interest in being a Buckeye.

He did not take an official visit to OSU, so unless he extends his recruitment past Wednesday, Virginia will most likely be his destination.