Buckeyes will hold on to Shaun Wade
It appears that the recruiting saga of Shaun Wade has finally come to an end as the Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian defensive back officially shut down his recruitment on Monday and stated that he fully intends on signing with the Buckeyes, the school that he committed to almost an eternity ago.
There were some tense moments for Ohio State fans and coaches alike as the Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators continued to take their best swings to try and flip the 5-star cornerback. Wade is ranked as the No. 21 player in the nation according to Rivals.com and was one of three players to commit to Ohio State the day that they played in the 2014 College Football Playoff national championship game against Oregon.
By a strange twist of fate, Wade is the only player who remains as running back Kareem Walker eventually flipped to Michigan and Bruce Judson decommitted from the Buckeyes nine months down the line.
Wade is set to be an early enrollee which means that teams needed to lay out their case before the start of the recruiting dead period, which started on early Monday and will run until January 12th. Wade will be enrolled at his college destination before the dead period ends so any chance of any in-person recruiting is over and done with and the Buckeyes went all out to try and lock out any other schools from making the last second flip.
Urban Meyer, joined by Kerry Coombs and Tim Beck, made their in-home visit to see Wade and his family last Monday to give their pitch and apparently, it was enough keep everyone else on the outside looking in.
It is never too early to look ahead to 2018 and Wade's final decision to stick with the Buckeyes won't hurt Ohio State's chances with his teammate, 5-star defensive back Tyreke Johnson, as the pair are very close. But Johnson is another national recruit and his recruitment won't be for the faint of heart as Johnson holds an offer list from almost every major program in the nation.
