There was plenty of scarlet and gray, a lot of green and even a little purple on Nov. 11 at Northland High School.

That day, the first day of the NCAA's fall signing period, seniors Jared Sullinger and J.D. Weatherspoon signed their national letters of intent to play basketball for Ohio State.

The signing ceremony included a performance by the Vikings' cheerleaders and a 20-minute video featuring interviews with teachers, who gave insight into what led both players to their decisions.

By the end of the day, the duo had helped the Buckeyes sign what some experts consider the nation's best recruiting class.

Though Sullinger and Weatherspoon are looking forward to playing at the next level, they acknowledge that they have some unfinished business at Northland, as the Vikings are the defending Division I state champions.

"I've been committed to Ohio State since May of 2007, but I've still got goals here," said Sullinger, who, like Weatherspoon, donned clothes featuring the colors of his future school at the ceremony. "The guy in the big purple shirt who looks like Barney won't let me forget that."

The man Sullinger was referring to was his father, coach Satch Sullinger, who celebrated a Division I signing of one of his sons for the third time. J.J. Sullinger was the ThisWeek Super 12 captain as a senior in 2001 and signed with Ohio State. Julian Sullinger signed with Kent State in 2005.

Jared Sullinger has made the Super 12 team each of his three prep seasons, has more than 1,200 career points and was named district Player of the Year as well as Mr. Basketball last winter. The 6-foot-9 post player averaged 17.7 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman, averaged 21.8 points and 12.4 rebounds as a sophomore and averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds last season.

With the state championship game tied at 58, Sullinger made a pair of foul shots with three seconds left to give Northland a 60-58 victory over Cincinnati Princeton.

Weatherspoon's path to signing with the Buckeyes was much different. He averaged 3.4 points in a contributing role as a freshman and averaged 11.1 points as a sophomore.

Last season, Weatherspoon averaged 14.7 points and eight rebounds and broke former Brookhaven standout Jeff Cumberland's unofficial record for dunks by a City League player with more than 60.

Before last season, Weatherspoon verbally committed to Xavier, but last April he de-committed after coach Sean Miller left the Musketeers to take the coaching job at Arizona.

Weatherspoon then verbally committed to Ohio State in early August, in the midst of his AAU team, which also featured Jared Sullinger, winning its third consecutive national championship.

"It's a big step for me," Weatherspoon said. "I showed them a lot of potential with my play in the state final. I just had to do what they wanted me to do."

According to most recruiting services, Jared Sullinger is rated among the top three power forwards nationally.

Also signing with the Buckeyes were Fort Wayne (Ind.) Luers' Deshaun Thomas, who is rated the No. 1 small forward, Zion (Ill.) Zion-Benton's Lenzelle Smith, Findlay Liberty Benton's Aaron Craft and Princeton's Jordan Sibert. Each is rated among the top 100 nationally.

"They've shown in AAU and high school that it's about winning," said Satch Sullinger, whose team's combined record over the past three season is 72-3, including 42-0 in the City League-North Division, with three league championships.

"These two understand that it's OK to score seven points if they win. These two young men do the things they need to do to be successful. It's not in this gym, but it's in the attitude they have when they come into the gym."