When Camren Williams declared via Twitter on Friday afternoon that he plans to sign with Ohio State, he became the 23rd commitment to Urban Meyer’s first recruiting class, a group that is turning heads nationally with its escalator rise since Meyer was named coach on Nov. 28.

But it also brings to mind the scholarship restrictions Meyer and his staff are working under as they seek a few more blue-chip prospects before the Feb. 1 signing day.

Because of NCAA sanctions, the Buckeyes can have no more than 82 players on scholarship for each of the next three seasons; the usual maximum is 85. A check of the updated roster on the school’s website late last week showed 62 returnees who originally were scholarship players.

Quick math would indicate that the Buckeyes already are three over at the moment, but now is where the juggling, shuffling and bookkeeping will start to come into play. That’s because in this numbers game, the key day will be the first day of preseason practice in August.

“Technically, the official drop-dead date is at the end of the academic year because that’s when you’re locked in and look back,” said Doug Archie, Ohio State’s associate athletic director of compliance. “But from a practical standpoint, it’s going to be the start of practice (in August).

“When they report to practice and/or report to classes on the first day, that’s when you’re locked in and count as one of those scholarships. If we signed somebody and they didn’t show up, like maybe they didn’t want to play football anymore, they wouldn’t go into our count.”

It is common practice at almost every major school for the incoming freshmen to report by the start of summer term so they can go through conditioning workouts with the returning team members while also taking a few classes. But Archie said that is not when the scholarship count clock starts ticking.

“Summer term is exempt,” he said. “It’s the start of regular-season practice or the first day of fall classes, whichever is earlier.”

Meyer said a couple of weeks ago, some attrition should be expected with a coaching regime change, and so it has begun with Ohio State.

Already not listed among the 62 were sophomore Dominic Clarke and freshman DerJuan Gambrell, defensive backs who were dismissed from the team more than a week ago because of unspecified violations of team rules which likely involved the legal challenges they’re facing. Also not listed were freshman safety Jeremy Cash, who announced on Friday that he has transferred to Duke, and redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Graham, who said in December he was transferring to Hawaii.

But still listed with the 62 are sophomore defensive end Melvin Fellows and redshirt freshman linebacker Scott McVey, though both were declared medical-hardship casualties by OSU in December. That means they will stay on scholarship but won’t count against the official number, which whittles it down to 60.

So, 60 plus 23 … that’s still one more than 82.

But it’s no secret that several other listed members of the team are facing challenges. Not the least of which is junior running back Jaamal Berry, who is awaiting trial on charges of assault, battery and disorderly conduct for an incident that occurred near the North Market in late October.

By the end of spring drills in April, there could be players who decide they just don’t fit in the new system. And by the end of spring quarter, there could be a player or two who falls away because of academic reasons. Even without a regime change, such attrition is to be expected.

Now back to the bookkeeping and the 2012 recruiting class. For convenience’s sake, it’s said to have 23 members at the moment. But six of those players — running back Bri’onte Dunn, lineman Jacoby Boren, linebacker Josh Perry, defensive back Tyvis Powell, quarterback Cardale Jones and receiver Mike Thomas — enrolled for the start of winter quarter.

“You have some flexibility on where the initial enrollees are counted depending on your specific situation,” Archie said. “The six midyear enrollees will count toward last year’s numbers.”

So, 23 minus six equals 17. That means that, at the moment, the Buckeyes still are eight short of the maximum of 25 players who can be signed to any one recruiting class. And there might be a member or two already committed who could be weeded out because of academic concerns or could change his mind before signing day.

Theoretically then, there’s room for several more recruits should the Buckeyes get late nods of approval from, say, lineman Jordan Diamond of Chicago, defensive backs Bam Bradley of Trotwood (Madison), Ohio, Demetrious Cox of Jeannette, Pa., or Williams’ high-school teammate, Armani Reeves of West Roxbury, Mass. Receivers DaVonte Neal of Scottsdale Ariz., and Stefon Diggs of Olney Md., or linebacker Dalton Santos of Van, Texas, also could give their OK.

Because remember, all that matters is being at no more than 82 scholarship players when preseason camp begins, and that’s still more than six months away.

tmay@dispatch.com