Former Ohio State defensive back Najee Murray has transferred to Kent State and began classes on the university’s main campus Monday.

Murray, a three-star recruit out of Steubenville High School, was a member of Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer’s first recruiting class. Murray was originally recruited by several Mid-American Conference schools but ended up committing to Ohio State.

Kent State head coach Paul Haynes recruited Murray before Haynes left Ohio State to take the defensive coordinator job at Arkansas State in 2012.

“We had a little bit of a previous relationship in recruiting at Ohio State,” Haynes said. “When I was coming out, he was coming in. Actually, my college roommate is friends of his family, so [we had] a little bit of past history.”

Haynes didn’t articulate why Murray chose to leave Ohio State, but The Lantern’s Eric Seger reported Aug. 11 that Murray was suspended indefinitely for what Meyer described as “a training camp issue.”

Murray played mostly special teams in six games in 2012 before his season ended after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in practice. He will sit out the 2013 season because of transfer rules and play in 2014 as a redshirt sophomore.

Nick Shook is a football reporter for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].