LeBron James led the Ohio State football team into the pep rally on Saturday and Urban Meyer introduced the Miami Heat's star to mostly cheers.

Speaking to students at the rally, James said he would have played at Ohio State University if he decided to play one season of college basketball instead of entering the NBA straight out of high school in 2003.

Earlier this month, Ohio State unveiled a special locker dedicated to James inside the Schottenstein Center, where the basketball team plays its home games.

LeBron James was given a locker at Ohio State’s new practice facility.

James agreed to outfit the team with his Nike line of apparel in 2007.

“We always want to pay our respects to him for what he did for us in '07 in terms of we were the first LeBron school,” Thad Matta said. “And obviously we get tremendous product from him, and I know he's very proud of what he does for us.”

Matta admitted to the recruiting benefits of being associated with James.

“There's no question about it,” Matta said. “I've always said if I could have coached him I would have been a lot better coach early on. He's very proud of what we've done and just in terms of his name and being from Ohio and the fact we wear his gear, that's important for us.”