Former 5-star recruit CB Kendall Sheffield commits to Ohio State

ByGerry Hamilton ESPN logo
Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Kendall Sheffield, the No. 4-ranked recruit in the ESPN Junior College 50, is headed to the Big Ten.

The 6-foot, 185-pound cornerback, a former five-star recruit in the 2015 class, committed to Ohio State over Texas A&M on Tuesday.

"After a great season at Blinn College, and an exciting recruiting process, I have decided to finish my collegiate career at The Ohio State University," Sheffield said. "I am excited to join Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes, and look forward to helping Buckeye Nation return to the College Football Playoff."

Sheffield, from Houston, initially signed with Alabama in 2015 and redshirted. He transferred to Blinn College prior to the start of the 2016 season with designs on returning to a Power Five program in 2017.

He will head to Columbus this spring with three years to play two. Sheffield, who made official visits to USC and TCU, in addition to Texas A&M and Ohio State, is a key pledge for the Buckeyes with third-year sophomore cornerback Marshon Lattimore expected to enter the NFL draft in the near future.

The announcement comes just a few days after Ohio State landed five-star corner Jeffrey Okudah.

Sheffield and Okudah finalize a standout group of defensive backs for the Buckeyes in the 2017 class, which includes ESPN 300 No. 13 Shaun Wade, No. 47 Isaiah Pryor and ESPN 300 cornerbacks Amir Riep and Marcus Williamson. Okudah, Sheffield, Wade, Prior and Williamson are all set to enroll this week in Columbus.

Ohio State had RecruitingNation's No. 3-ranked recruiting class prior to the commitments of Sheffield and Okudah, and remains in the mix for the nation's top-ranked class with signing day less than a month away. Ohio State is still battling for two of the nation's top defensive tackle prospects, five-star Marvin Wilson and ESPN 300 Jay Tufele out of Utah.