The best high school football player in Northeast Ohio is staying in his home state.
Cleveland Heights defensive end Tyreke Smith, ranked as the 60th best overall player in the nation by 247 Sports, officially committed to Ohio State Thursday night at the Under Armour High School All-America Game in Orlando.
Smith made the announcement during ESPN2's broadcast of the game.
The Heights product had offers from virtually every big time program in the nation, and looked to be leaning towards Penn State for a period of time before eventually choosing the Buckeyes. Smith could make an huge impact as soon as next season, with three of OSU's starting defensive lineman set to leave for the NFL Draft.
Landing Smith should also provide a huge boost to head coach Urban Meyer, who took some heat weeks ago after offensive lineman Jackson Carman chose to attend Clemson over Ohio State. Carman is the first number one overall Ohio recruit to choose a team other than Notre Dame over the Buckeyes since Meyer's arrival in Columbus.
Smith is the fourth Northeast Ohio product in this class to commit to a Big Ten school, with Chardon's Chase Kline and St. Edward's Michael Dowell both heading to Michigan State and Avon's Jimmy McKenna choosing Purdue.
