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Kyle Robertson | Dispatch

Urban Meyer's 2012 recruiting class is ranked in the top five nationally.

Urban Meyer is poised today to endorse his first Ohio State recruiting class, or at least most of it, depending on how decisions go with some undecided prospects in the next week or so.

No matter what, say, receivers Stefon Diggs and Davonte Neal decide, Meyer and his assistants appear to have filled some needs with the 2012 class, and a couple of them in a big way. They did it while upgrading a class that was barely on the national radar in November to one that currently is No. 3 in the rivals.com ratings.

Diggs, from Olney, Md., and Neal, from Scottsdale, Ariz., are still possible signees, as are offensive lineman Kyle Dodson of Cleveland Heights, who will make his choice known just after noon today, and linebacker Jamal Marcus of Durham, N.C.

No school is going to sign a more highly regarded defensive end trio today than OSU’s Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington and Se’Von Pittman. And with senior Nathan Williams on the mend from knee surgery in the fall and no other returnees who made big contributions, the door is open for an impact player at defensive end.

Spence, from Harrisburg, Pa., and Washington, from Cincinnati Taft, are considered elite five-star prospects by rivals.com and Scout.com. Pittman, from Canton McKinley, had committed to Michigan State before Meyer and his staff put the press on him soon after Meyer was hired on Nov. 28.

The Buckeyes also needed linebackers, and in recent weeks got commitments from Camren Williams of West Roxbury, Mass., and David Perkins of South Bend, Ind.

And they needed offensive linemen to shore up depleted depth. There are four of them in this class, including Jacoby Boren of Pickerington Central, one of six members who enrolled in January. Since then, a couple of highly regarded prospects jumped on board: Taylor Decker of Vandalia-Butler and Joey O’Connor of Windsor, Colo.

O’Connor had been committed to Penn State but bailed when scandal rocked that school in November and pledged to OSU in January when an offer was made. Decker, meanwhile, had pledged to Notre Dame after being spurned by the previous OSU staff, and it took several knocks at his door by Meyer and his staff to get him to flip in January. They have been working on Dodson to do the same from his commitment to Wisconsin.

Meyer might be the best recruiting head coach in the country, according to Mike Farrell, rivals.com national editor.

“The first thing that makes him so effective as a recruiter is he’s relentless,” Farrell said. “He’s not pushy, but he’s relentless. He won’t give up.”

Meyer expects the same drive from his assistant coaches, Farrell said.

“A lot of coaches, after they’ve been told no four or five times, they’ll go another direction, but Urban will keep coming back,” he said. “He won’t do it in a pushy manner, but in a matter-of-fact manner.

“He’s got a great demeanor around parents, he makes them trust him, and I think he relates very well to the kids.”

So it was when he, defensive line coach Mike Vrabel and other staff members convinced Williams and defensive back Armani Reeves, also from West Roxbury and a former Penn State commitment, to join the class in the past two weeks.

“It’s a real family atmosphere at Ohio State, and I liked that a lot,” said Reeves, the latest and 23rd member of the class. “Camren and I weren’t necessarily looking to go to the same school, but we both like the same things about Ohio State. Now, we’re both looking forward to being Buckeyes.”

tmay@dispatch.com