ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football team announced its 2012 recruiting class of 19 players on Wednesday.

The class includes four junior college players, all already enrolled at Ohio, and 15 high school players.

For more on each player, click here.

Ohio coach Frank Solich said that recruiting coordinator Brian Haines has helped put together an excellent class for the second year in a row.

“I really feel good about this year’s class again,” he said. “I think we’ve put together two really good classes, with not only athletic players, but guys who have done an excellent job in the classroom, and that goes a long way.”

Among them are four wide receivers and one “athlete” generally listed as a wide receiver in recruiting databases. Offensively, there also is one quarterback, one running back, one tight end and two offensive linemen for a total of 10 offensive players.

The nine defensive players includes three defensive ends – two of them junior college players – and another athlete generally considered a defensive end. The Bobcats got letters of intent from one defensive tackle, two linebackers, one safety and one other athlete typically listed as a safety.

“That will certainly help the depth (at defensive end),” Solich said. “Graduation was a factor there. You look at the number of rush ends coming back, especially with experience, and there was not a lot of rush ends. That was a factor in our recruiting.”

Eight players are rated as three stars by Rivals, and seven of them had at least one offer from a BCS conference.

Cincinnati Colerain defensive tackle Trae Clark (6-3, 350) had the most scholarship offers of any player who committed to Ohio – 13 combined based on lists provided by ESPN, Scout and Rivals – and all but two of them were to BCS schools. Among the schools the Bobcats beat out for Clark’s letter of intent include Arkansas, Michigan State, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

“Defensive linemen are at a premium always,” Solich said. “He’s got great size, great strength, and along with that, really excellent mobility. He’s not a guy who just takes up space and takes up a gap. He’s able to shed blockers, prevent cut blocks from occurring, get downfield and make plays. I think he’s going to develop into a great defensive lineman.”

Blair (Neb.) linebacker Jake Schany (6-2, 210) was the highest-rated player the Bobcats picked up, according to ESPN, as the only player it rated as three stars (with a 77 rating). Ohio beat out Colorado, among others, for Schany.

Tampa King (Fla.) wide receiver Chris Murray (5-11, 185) tied Clark as the highest-rated recruit according to Rivals at 5.6. Among the other schools to offer Murray scholarships were Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas and Washington State.

The graduation of receivers LaVon Brazill, Riley Dunlop and Jerry Gross played a big factor in the Bobcats seeking several receivers and also in them being able to land quality players at that position, he said. In particular, Murray could have a major impact right away.

“He’s a lot like LaVon,” Solich said. “LaVon made an impact immediately in our program. You watch (Murray) catch and run after the catch and that’s who you think about when you see him.”

Other Rivals three-star recruits the Bobcats picked up were Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College defensive end Wade Wells (6-3, 235), Hutchinson Community College linebacker Tim Edmond (6-0, 245), Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson offensive lineman Nick Gibbons, Cleveland Benedictine athlete (WR/TE) Mike Roberts (6-4, 245) and Pickerington Central athlete (safety) Sebastian Smith (6-2, 180).

Quarterback Greg Windham (6-1, 217), a high school teammate of Murray, was a two-star recruit according to all three scouting services but was the Bobcats’ second-best recruit according to ESPN, with a 74 rating. He had a BCS offer from Cincinnati.

“That’s where we’re supposed to be,” Solich said. “You need to have some of that happen. We’ve had other guys recruited by BCS teams come to our program and I think that speaks volumes for us.”

Along with the junior college players, Plant City (Fla.) running back Daz’mond Patterson (5-7, 180) already is enrolled and taking classes at Ohio.

One thing that Solich said was most impressive about this year's recruits is that most of them are physically ready to compete at the college level right away.

"You look at their size and strength and they’re guys that are able to challenge right now," he said. "We have not brought in guys that are undersized and have to spend two or three years building their strength up and getting faster to compete.”

Solich said the Bobcats do try to recruit based on need but also have to be careful to go after the best players regardless of position. Signing three athletes allows that kind of flexibility.

“They’re all versatile in what they do,” Haines said. “Coming into camp we’ll get a feel for what they want to be and where we need them and take it from there.”

The class turned out exactly as expected, with the exception that Lynwood (Calif.) cornerback Diamonte Wiggins opted to sign with a Division II school close to home.

The Bobcats on Monday were rumored to be getting a commitment from Roger Lewis, a four-star wide receiver from Pickerington Central who originally committed to Ohio State, but he was charged with rape on Tuesday and did not sign with any team. He also has yet to receive a qualifying test score.

There are seven players from Ohio, three from Florida, three from Georgia, two from Nebraska and one each from Iowa, Mississippi, New York and Texas.

With nearly twice as many players from out of state as from in state, Ohio is becoming more far-reaching, Solich said.

“It speaks volumes in terms of what’s happening to our program in terms of viewership,” he said. “Being on TV the last six games was huge for us. … What you’re talking about is Ohio getting viewed around the country. That means a great deal to us.”