COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football set a strong foundation for its 2021 recruiting class with 15 commitments by the end of March.

That head start seems even more critical right now as all in-person recruiting operations nationwide are shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Buckeyes recruiting director Mark Pantoni said that moratorium has made finishing evaluations of the 2021 class more difficult. In some cases, OSU identified potential prospects and even extended offers but needed more observation in person, either through visits or at various camps.

He believes the shutdown is hurting Class of 2021 prospects more than those in 2022.

“Our focus is on ’21, so we would use that time to do live evals on 21s more than 22s,” Pantoni said during a Friday teleconference.

Pantoni echoed coach Ryan Day’s recent sentiments that the volume of commitments for the 2021 class thus far traces back to work done many months ago.

Ohio State only had to recruit for one Class of 2020 spot beyond the December early signing period. That allowed the coaches to spend their January time focusing on 2021 efforts. By that time they were working off of a narrowed list of top candidates thanks to the work Pantoni and his staff did in the fall.

By mid-March the Buckeyes’ recruiting strategy had to be adjusted, without much recourse. Pantoni said the staff has tried to be creative, but contacts generally remain limited to something involving a cell phone.

“Obviously since we can’t see them face to face we’ve gone way more on the FaceTime calls,” Pantoni said. "I’m not sure that’s good because they see our ugly grills now way more often.

“We’re trying to be in constant communication. It’s pretty much business as usual. We have more free time on our hands now, and they have more free time. We’re using electronic means to keep the communication lines open.”

Ohio State generally does not like to take a commitment from a player who has not made an official visit to campus — something one could argue is a prudent policy on both ends of the relationship.

However, it has made exceptions before, and may have to do so more often to complete the 2021 class. Hopewell, Virginia five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson committed last month without an official.

“It depends on the situation,” Pantoni said. “Our coaches on the road had been in certain high schools multiple times. They can’t talk to the kid but they talked to coaches, principals, (athletic directors). The transcript tells a big story."

At the same time, Ohio State knows which players had committed themselves to making unofficial visits this spring — in some cases making financial commitment for travel plans.

That’s another less conventional piece of information the staff can now use when evaluating its relationships with prospects.

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