BEAVERTON, Ore -- Almost four years later, with an Elite 11 hat firmly on his head and a wealth of maturity gained, former Washington quarterback commit Tate Martell still recalls the day he made his first decision.

"Yeah it was a long time ago but it was fun, though," Martell told Rivals at The Opening on Wednesday. "It's been - for me I've had fun with it, nothing really you can complain about what I went through. It's everything a kid could dream of."

Ranked as a the No.1 dual-threat quarterback in the country in the 2017 class according to Rivals, Martell started out his recruitment in eight-grade, committing to then UW head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Sarkisian, who left Washington to accept the head coaching position at USC in December 2013, was the first coach to offer Martell. He offered him again at Southern California, and while he won't play a down of football wearing purple and gold, Martell relished the learning experience.

"I mean I don't really think about it too much because I'm all Ohio State right now," Martell said, recalling his decision. "I don't really look back in it too much. I really liked the school, it's a great school up there and everything, but at the time I loved the school and now obviously I've gone a different way."

Martell has made waves on social media and in the recruiting world overall, first committing to Washington, then to Texas A&M and now most recently to Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes.

However, his decision to commit to Washington and Sarkisian before he even attempted a pass as a high school quarterback, was a dream he chased and, at the time, a dream he achieved.

"It was more or less as a young kid it was always my dream to commit to a school at a young age," Martell said. "And I always liked Washington and coach Sark he had a good history with me, being at USC. That was my only offer until my sophomore year when he offered me at USC."

Now, on July 6, 2016, Sarkisian is out of football and Martell is bound for Columbus, Ohio. Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen kept Martell's verbal commitment after taking over on December 13, 2013, and despite visiting Washington with several other Bishop Gorman players, it was not meant to be.