Three-for-all: CB Octavian Smith is NU's third commit of the day
Octavian Smith turned a day to remember into a historic day for Northwestern.
The cornerback from Maryland announced his commitment on Wednesday evening to become the third new member of the Wildcats' Class of 2022. Smith followed defensive end Denis Jaquez and safety Robert Fitzgerald, who announced their pledges earlier in the day.
"I'm truly honored to attend a Top 10 school and Top 10 Football Program surrounded by all of the right people," Smith said in his commitment tweet.
Smith's verbal pledge was another one that wasn't difficult to see coming. Northwestern was his only official visit. He is the Wildcats' fourth commitment of the week, with all of them from players who just visited last weekend.
Despite blazing speed and an impressive highlight tape, Smith managed to stay mostly under-the-radar during his recruiting process. He is unranked by Rivals and just six of his 13 offers were from Power Five programs, with five of them coming since mid-May.
That's a bit of a surprise for a guy who ran a 10.88 100-meter dash to place second in the Maryland 4A state finals earlier this month, and who has run as fast as 10.46.
Listed as an athlete by Rivals, Smith played both quarterback and cornerback for Burtonsville Paint Branch this season.
Smith is the ninth member of the Wildcats' class, which was ranked 36th in the nation before his commitment. He is the first cornerback of the class.