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SG Malaki Branham (B1G Freshman of the Year, San Antonio Spurs)

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as horrible as it sounds, one silver lining of the current uncertainty is that people tend to respond by seeking safety and familiarity. could see branham wanting to stay close(r) to home as a result. similar thinking might influence ho1tmann's overall recruiting, too. sean jones is a fine point guard, certainly worthy of an osu offer. dj moore may be just as good. timing couldn't be more right for a hometown point guard.
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
not listing the names, but rivals has had a few more futurecasts come in for osu. guys that generally don't cover (much) basketball, though, so they might have simply been echoing corey evans' prediction. regardless, lots of smoke. perhaps an announcement coming soon. don't know.
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holt2
 
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Corey Evans had us 4th place in "Ranking the Contenders" for Kendall Brown which surprised me a little at first until I remembered he thinks we are getting Branham and it is very reasonable to assume that OSU is not gonna land two T50 wings for a team already projecting to be loaded with quality, experienced players at the 2-4.
 
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tenor.gif
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
as horrible as it sounds, one silver lining of the current uncertainty is that people tend to respond by seeking safety and familiarity. could see branham wanting to stay close(r) to home as a result. similar thinking might influence ho1tmann's overall recruiting, too. sean jones is a fine point guard, certainly worthy of an osu offer. dj moore may be just as good. timing couldn't be more right for a hometown point guard.
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Interestingly, Snow is saying that Columbus isn't helping OSU in this recruitment.

Hopefully it doesn't matter in the end.
 
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nomatta said:
Interestingly, Snow is saying that Columbus isn't helping OSU in this recruitment.
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that's because branham has to drive through mansfield to get to columbus. kinda puts us behind the 8-ball to begin with. well, i guess he could take 77 to 70, but that means passing through zanesville before smelling newark and millersport, which is actually worse. far worse.
 
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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Branham hasn’t had a typical recruitment in the past couple of months. As a rising senior, this summer would likely be when he piles up offers. He said he believes the blue bloods would have come after him after seeing him on the Nike EYBL circuit. Since that got canceled and he only just returned to playing five-on-five this weekend, the same schools that have been with him for a while remain his top options.

Playing early in his career will factor into his eventual commitment.

“Me going to college, I need to really get throw in the fire as a freshman,” Branham said, explaining the factors he has been weighing. “The coaching staff believes in me. I want to play guard. That's where I'm going to make my money at in the NBA if I go, hopefully. Probably that and just having trust with the coaching staff that they believe in me, I believe in them and they're going to do right by me.”

For Ohio State, early playing time is a clear selling point.

CJ Walker and Abel Porter will run out of eligibility after the 2020-21 season, leaving rising seniors Duane Washington Jr. and Jimmy Sotos as the only guards on the roster – with Eugene Brown III able to serve as an off-ball shooting guard at times. Along with Johnson, Branham would immediately factor into the Buckeyes’ backcourt plans as a freshman. He said Holtmann and his coaches – including Ryan Pedon, his lead recruiter – have told him they’d throw him “in the fire as a freshman.”

He said his relationship with Holtmann and Pedon has “been good.”

“I've definitely grown a relationship with them and a trust with them, so it's definitely good,” Branham said.

Xavier, he notes, has also been after him for over two years, too.

“I know the college coaches that's been recruiting me since Day 1 and believe in my talents,” Branham said. “Just them, I'm focusing on them. Then just going to decide from there.”

If Branham opts to go somewhere else, the Buckeyes have a list of guards they’d turn to. But that’s not their goal.

As Branham’s recruitment winds down, Ohio State is focused on closing on the top in-state 2021 prospect. One way or another, they’ll know where he ends up shortly.
 
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