There was only one person happier than Chris Carter when he verbally committed to Ohio State’s class of 2011, and it was one notorious for keeping his emotions under wraps.

“I was meeting with (head coach Jim) Tressel in his office,” Carter told BuckeyeSports.com. “He was happy. I think he was the only person that was happier than me. It was a great moment.”

The 6-4, 325-pound Carter issued his commitment while on OSU’s campus today for an unofficial visit. Accompanied by his coach and parents, Carter was able to get the day off from school because students were taking the Ohio Graduation Tests and he passed all of his last year.

Carter said he knew he wanted to be a Buckeye as soon as he landed a scholarship offer from them about two months ago.

“I wanted to make a well-informed decision,” he said. “There was always in my mind that I wanted to go to Ohio State but first I wanted to make that informed decision. I wanted to see the campus. I was told how the academic support system was, but I wanted to see it and ask questions for myself.”

Once he got to campus and looked around, Carter pulled the trigger.

“When I toured the facilities, we took a tour of the campus and the various facilities and I liked it,” he said. “I liked the fact that the coaches were real and they care about you.”

Carter also held offers from the likes of North Carolina State, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Akron, among others. He said USC, Michigan and Syracuse had been calling recently and that he had started receiving mail from Wisconsin, Kansas State and Iowa State.

None of them could beat the Buckeyes to the punch.