Offensive tackle Evan Lisle, a rising senior at Centerville High School, liked everything about Ohio State during his visit to the campus with his parents last winter. But what convinced him to become a Buckeye more than anything was a 10-minute conversation with coach Urban Meyer.

Lisle heard about Meyer’s philosophy for his quick-paced offense, his affinity for nimble linemen and his plan for leading the Buckeyes to a national title.

“He’s an intense guy who, when he walks in a room, you’ll listen to him and you’ll definitely respect him,” Lisle said.

“After all that for 10 minutes, I knew I wanted to go to Ohio State. And once I got the offer, I committed pretty fast.”

Other coveted prospects are responding the same way to Meyer’s recruiting pitch. After turning a mediocre class last year into one of the top five in the nation in barely two months on the job, Meyer is having plenty of success again this year on the recruiting trail.

The Buckeyes’ 2013 class jumped from ninth to fifth nationally last week in the ESPN.com ratings. Rivals.com has OSU 10th, mostly because it has fewer commitments than most. The 14 prospects have a cumulative average of 3.92 stars (on a scale of one to five), second only to Southern Cal’s 4.21.

“He’s kind of like a rock star to high school football players,” Bucknuts.com recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic said of Meyer. “He’s always been a great recruiter, and you put him at a place like Ohio State, which has so much to offer, and that’s a great combination.”

While his predecessor, Jim Tressel, relied mostly on in-state prospects to fill his classes, Meyer has been able to cast a wide net with half of his 2013 recruits coming from outside Ohio.

“When you throw in the clout that comes with the Urban Meyer name along with the tradition of Ohio State and the super-high profile of the program, you’re going to run into kids all over the United States at the very elite levels of the game who want to play in the ‘Shoe. And that’s what’s happening,” said Allen Wallace, publisher of SuperPrep Magazine and national recruiting editor for Scout.com.

The Buckeyes picked up a commitment in June from defensive tackle Michael Hill, the top-rated player in South Carolina who had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU and the home-state Gamecocks. The first quarterback to be recruited by Meyer at OSU is J.T. Barrett of Wichita Falls, Texas.

Marcus Baugh, a tight end from Riverside, Calif., was pursued by most Pac-12 schools along with Florida and Miami before picking the Buckeyes. Eli Woodard, a five-star cornerback from Voorhees, N.J., ideally will team with another five-star defensive back in Trotwood-Madison’s Cameron Burrows to give the Buckeyes strength in the secondary for years to come.

“Ohio State under Jim Tressel did not go to California and Texas that often,” Kurelic said. “Urban Meyer certainly is. The state of Ohio is going to be the No. 1 priority, but he’s going to go anywhere he needs to and get the best players he can find.”

Although Michigan has been effective in raiding Ohio, the Buckeyes have the top two players in the state in Burrows and Middletown High School’s Jalin Marshall, who currently is a quarterback but could be shifted somewhere else to maximize his play-making abilities.

“They’re great, great players,” Kurelic said. “I think the only question mark with the two is, who do you like better? I’ve gone back and forth on who’s 1 and who’s 2? I think in my book they’re kind of 1A and 1B. They’re both so good.

“Jalin Marshall is an impact guy on offense. While he wants to play quarterback, I think he’s going to be a Percy Harvin guy at Ohio State. But you never know. I like to say, ‘Just put the ball in his hands and let him do things at whatever position it is.’

“Cameron Burrows has a chance to be a really good cornerback for Ohio State. But it may end up that he turns out to be a great safety. He could play either one.”

Barrett, the fifth-best dual-threat QB in the nation in the ESPN.com ratings, appears to be a logical successor to sophomore starter Braxton Miller.

“He’s a quarterback who could pretty much control where he wanted to go,” Wallace said. “He’s an elite player. I like the fact that he’s an accurate thrower. He doesn’t have a fantastic arm, but I think accuracy is much more important than having a gun for an arm. In that respect, he stands out.”

The Buckeyes have had some setbacks along the way. Alex Anzalone, a linebacker from Pennsylvania, de-committed after a bizarre incident involving a sex offender who snapped a picture with the prospect after the spring game and posted it on Twitter. Anzalone started the recruiting process over and chose Notre Dame last week.

Another projected linebacker, Lewis Neal of North Carolina, also de-commitment and picked LSU, leaving the Buckeyes thin at that position.

Recruiting analysts say OSU will top out at 20 or 21 signees on the first Wednesday in February. It may have been more, but NCAA sanctions have limited the program to 82 scholarships instead of 85 over the next three years.

Kurelic said the Buckeyes are among the leaders for several top uncommitted prospects, and they’ll need a strong finish to keep pace with Michigan, which has been revived by second-year coach Brady Hoke. The Wolverines have the consensus No. 1 class in the nation and have landed 11 of ESPN.com’s top-150 players, more than any school.

Eight of Michigan’s 22 recruits hail from Ohio, including linebacker Michael McCray of Trotwood (the state’s third-best prospect), safety Dymonte Thomas (fourth) and tight end Jake Butt (seventh).

“He’s recruited well, but last year he had a class that was highly ranked all throughout the process, and then in the end Ohio State finished ahead of him,” Kurelic said. “Brady Hoke took guys earlier that weren’t guys Ohio State offered. Ohio State saved those scholarships and got even more highly ranked players, and I can see the same thing happening again this year.

“Michigan is close to being filled up. I don’t think they’re going to get a lot of bump recruiting wise in January and on signing day, where Ohio State has a chance, like last year, to have a big bump where they get a lot of great players at the end.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.