A sports media conversation with Ben Axelrod
September 22, 2017Carmelo Anthony would now waive his no-trade clause to join Cavs
September 22, 2017It’s football season, so it’s understandable that college basketball may be on the back-burner for many college sports fans. But with that said, new Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann and his staff have been killing it on the recruiting tail over the last four days.
Live look at Chris Holtmann and his staff on the recruiting trail: pic.twitter.com/1HRkk5SCzS
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) September 23, 2017
On Monday, the Buckeyes had zero commits in the class of 2018. Four days later, after Jaedon LeDee, Duane Washington, and Luther Muhammad committed to the Buckeyes, they now have three commits and currently own the 13th-best class in the country (sixth-best in the Big Ten) in 2018. Let’s take a closer look at the three commits so far in Ohio State’s 2018 class:
Jaedon LeDee
#BuckeyeNation pic.twitter.com/Wk8MjIJoSL
— Jaedon LeDee (@jae_ledee) September 19, 2017
The first of the three to commit this week, LeDee announced on Twitter that he will be a Buckeye on Tuesday. The Houston, Texas native is a four-star small forward and ranked No. 112 in the class. The 6-foot-7, 230-pounder picked Ohio State over LSU, Texas A&M, and UCLA, among others.
After he committed, I tweeted that it might get the ball rolling for Holtmann’s first class at Ohio State. I didn’t think the ball would start rolling this fast.
Big-time commit for Holtmann and the Buckeyes. Hopefully this gets the ball rolling for Ohio State's 2018 class. https://t.co/bfgJdVrQXI
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) September 19, 2017
Duane Washington
https://twitter.com/TheDuaneWash/status/910624712081862662
Washington committed on Wednesday and was the second commit in as many days for the Buckeyes. The three-star point guard deciding on Ohio State after taking an official visit to Columbus last week, less than a month after he received an offer from Holtmann and his staff.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guard is ranked No. 290 in the class of 2018 and is the first commit the basketball Buckeyes have gotten from a player in California since at least 2000.
Luther Muhammad
The Wait Is Over. @The_Unguarded pic.twitter.com/4w9SEJIc0x
— GoBuckLu (@LutherMuhammad) September 23, 2017
The best player in Ohio State’s 2018 class so far, Muhammad is ranked No. 71 in his class, and the highest-rated commit the Buckeyes have had since 2015. The four-star shooting guard picked Ohio State over Notre Dame, Xavier, St. John’s, and Virginia, among others.
From Jersey City, New Jersey, Muhammad is just the second player from New Jersey to commit to the Buckeyes since 2000 (LaQuinton Ross, 2011). A commitment like his could really get the ball rolling for Holtmann and his staff going forward.
Holtmann has made it known multiple times that he and his staff must recruit Ohio hard, but so far, of the three commits in the 2018 class, none are from Ohio. After missing out on the five best kids in Ohio in the 2018 class, it’s quite possible that Holtmann and company have decided that they must focus on getting as much talent as possible no matter where the player may be from, and then start recruiting Ohio hard for the 2019 class (and beyond).
With that said, Justin Ahrens, the sixth-best player and top-remaining recruit from Ohio in the 2018 class, is in Columbus for a weekend visit at Ohio State that began Friday. Ahrens was once committed to the Buckeyes but decided to de-commit after Thad Matta left Ohio State. If the Buckeyes can get him to re-commit, that would be a big get for Ohio State.
All rankings are from the 247sports’ Composite Rankings.
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