After Indian Head (Lackey), Maryland corner back, Darrell Givens, switched his verbal commitment from Ohio State to Penn State, Jim Tressel and staff spent a lot of time trying to lure another defensive back into the class of 2009 to take Givens’ place. One of those targets was another corner back from the state of Maryland in Fredrick Tuscarora’s Dominic Clarke. After an unofficial visit this weekend to Columbus, Clarke ended his recruitment and gave a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes earlier this morning.

This commitment by the 5′11″ 180-pound defensive back is a big pick up for the Buckeye staff, who have offered a multitude of players at the position since Givens’ switch to Happy Valley last month. Clarke tallied 38 tackles to go along with 3 interceptions in his junior year and had 837 yards and 5 touch downs as a running back on the offensive side of the ball. He was being recruited by various other schools, such as Virginia, Maryland, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Navy, Boston College, and others before the Buckeyes won out for his services.

The impact of Clarke’s verbal commitment reaches much further than in Columbus and Fredrick, as he becomes the 16th member of the class of 2009. Ohio State is looking to take about 25 members in this class and spots are filling up quickly. With offers out to other defensive backs Brandon McGee (FL), Vlad Emilien (FL), DJ Hunter (OH), Roderick Sweeting (GA), Bradley McDougald (OH), Frankie Telfort (FL), Travis Hawkins (MD), Corey Brown (PA), EJ Banks (PA), and two way players Justin Green (KY), Andre DeBose (FL) and Stephon Gilmore (SC), the Buckeyes may be running out of defensive back spots in this class with Clarke, Jamie Wood, and CJ Barnett already committed. Look for the Buckeyes to take 3 more DBs in the class at most and maybe take another player or two out of this pool as an athlete. Spots will certainly be saved for Brandon McGee and Vlad Emilien, but the other players on this list may want to jump on their offers to quickly or they could find out that there may not be room for them in Columbus for the 2009 season.