The first Wednesday of February used to be considered a sacred day for college football fans. It was the day that
months, if not years, of hype and speculation came to fruition, as players put pen to paper and faxed their National
Letters of Intent to their colleges of choice, securing the school where they would spend three to five years of their
lives playing.
Now, thanks to the Early Signing Period and early enrollees, the official college football National Signing Day is
reserved almost exclusively for a small handful of players who, for whatever reason, needed some extra time to make
a decision or perhaps witnessed a coaching change at their intended school and had to reengage in the recruiting
process.
Only eight of the top 250 players in 247Sports’ 2024 recruiting rankings have yet to sign with a school, and only one
has yet to commit: wide receiver and the No. 134 player in the country Ashton Bethel-Roman has picked up a slew of
high-value crystal balls for Texas A&M in recent days, but appears to be waiting until Signing Day to make it official.
Ohio State is anticipated to complete the cycle with a 21-man recruiting class, but 15 of those players have already
arrived on campus, are participating in winter conditioning, and will be available for spring practice. Nonetheless,
the Buckeyes are expecting to add another player to their roster, as four-star defensive lineman Dominic Kirks is set
to sign with them this morning.
According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Kirks is the country’s No. 162 player. He is the No. 24 defensive
lineman and the No. 8 player in Ohio. Initially, the Painesville native committed to Washington, but did not sign his
Letter of Intent in December. When Kalen DeBoer chose to leave the Huskies to take over in Tuscaloosa, Kirks
reassessed his decision. Kirks arrived on campus in Columbus the day after he decommitted from UW, and he
officially pledged to be a Buckeye one week later.
