Five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson announced his commitment to Ohio State on Friday via Twitter, adding to the Buckeyes’ 2021 class which ranks No. 1 nationally.

Henderson, a Hopewell, Virginia native, is the top running back in his class, according to the ESPN Junior 300 list for 2021. He reportedly also had offers from programs like Michigan, Oklahoma and Alabama, among others.

In his commitment video, he said the decision to go to Ohio State gives him the opportunity to take the next step in his career and accept the challenges that accompany it.

“Where I’m from, a lot of people don’t get to leave,” he said in the video. “Walking away is hard to do. So I ran. I ran from trouble — every challenge I saw, I ran through. The next challenge is the one I’m not running from; it’s a challenge I’m running to. … I may not know where I’m going, but I know I’ll be given everything I need so that one day, I can run back home and make a difference for those who need it.”

“I’m a Buckeye now.”

Henderson earned Virginia’s Gatorade Player of the Year honors after playing running back and defensive back this past season. His athletic ability was seemingly unmatched in Hopewell’s run to the Class 3A semifinals, as he had 2240 yards from scrimmage and scored 43 total touchdowns on the season.

When he arrives at Ohio State, he will be replacing Trey Sermon, who announced he’ll be joining the Buckeyes as a graduate transfer in 2020. Sermon had over 2000 yards and 22 touchdowns in three seasons at Oklahoma and is eligible for one more season, meaning when Sermon is leaving, Henderson will be arriving.

Bearing that in mind, it’s reasonable to expect that he will see field time as a freshman — or have an opportunity to compete for time. While the program is still transitioning from Urban Meyer, it isn’t afraid to lean on freshmen for production, and they did so in 2017 when J.K. Dobbins rushed for 1400 yards, so look for Henderson to have an immediate impact.

Moreover, since taking over for Meyer a little over a season ago, Ryan Day has kept — and even intensified — the ritual of a run-heavy offense. Under Day, the Buckeyes ran the ball nearly 62 percent of the time, an increase from the Meyer-led offense, which was more balanced and ran the ball 56 percent of plays. Given that, I expect Henderson to thrive at Ohio State.