Northwestern's 2022 class has a chance to make a little unintentional and surprising history: it could be the first Wildcat class in 20 years to not feature a single prospect from Ohio.

Unless the Wildcats land an Ohioan in the February signing period, they will be without a player from the Buckeye state for the first time since Rivals started its recruiting database in 2002.

Along with Illinois and Texas, Ohio has been one of the program's most fertile recruiting grounds over the last couple decades. So Northwestern will try to reconnect its pipeline to Ohio in the 2023 class.

To that end, on Jan. 4, coaches offered three-star athlete Malik Hartford from West Chester Lakota West, a player they'd like to see in their defensive backfield of the future. We talked to Hartford to get his reaction.