Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Top247 defensive end Tunmise Adeleye put the exclamation mark on his recruitment Wednesday afternoon by announcing his pledge to Ohio State, but the Texas native says he’s known for years he was going to be “a Buckeye” and play his college football in Columbus.

“Back in 2015 when Ohio State played Oregon in the National Championship,” Adeleye started in.

“Just seeing the beat down they handed to Oregon, how fast and physical they played, and how they threw the ball, and the receivers, just everything about the team. I was like this is the school I’m going to. I had it made up in my mind all the way back then, if I ever had the opportunity to play for Ohio State and Coach (Larry) Johnson and that d-line, I wasn’t going to lose the opportunity and I was going to capitalize it."

Tabbed by the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s No. 4 strong-side defensive end and No. 41 prospect overall, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Adeleye chose the Big Ten power over his other finalists Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. He joins a class that is running away at No. 1 atop the 247Sports Team Rankings.

“I think Buckeye Nation is in store for a historic kind of run that we’re going to try and make,” Adeleye said. “I feel like the first level of that is getting elite athletes. Three years from now, when it’s our time to get drafted, guys are going to write stories and articles about this class that we’re building. I feel it’s going to be so historic and the talent brought in, it’s guys that are program builders and program changers. I feel like the guys in our class are not just elite athletes but elite young men. We’re a class with a lot of character.

“I feel like Buckeye Nation is in store for a lot of good times in the near future.”

Ryan Day, Johnson and the Ohio State staff offered Adeleye back in May of 2019. Although he knew how his recruitment would end, he still went through the process.

“The respectful thing to do was go visit all the schools I was interested in just because I wanted to see what they had to offer and give everyone a chance as to why I should go to their program,” he said.

Nobody could unseat OSU. Adeleye called Johnson on Tuesday and told him he was in.

“He was ecstatic,” Adeleye said. “He’s really keying in on this d-line class he’s building with me, Jack (Sawyer) and Mike Hall and we’ll probably get one or two more guys. This class we’re building is a class that’s going to wreak havoc in a couple years. He was very excited.”

Adeleye was excited to talk to Day and Greg Mattison next.

“They asked me when I was going to announce and I said the next day,” Adeleye said. “I spent a day to sit on it and sleep on it and I actually had a dream of me playing at Ohio State with Jack on the other side and Mike. Once I dreamed about it I already it was a done deal. That was my revelation I made the right choice.”