If you hadn’t heard
Josiah Harris’ name until recently, it would’ve made sense.
A month ago, the 6-foot-7 forward didn’t have any high-major offers. Yes, the Richmond Heights sophomore had put together a standout season for Richmond Heights, averaging 20.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, but major recruiting services hadn’t even ranked him among his 2022 classmates.
Since then, he’s blown up – even though, due to NCAA rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic, no college coach has been allowed to him in person.
Offers have rolled in from West Virginia, Southern Methodist, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Wichita State and Ohio State. The Aggies, Buckeyes and Shockers offered him scholarships consecutively on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Harris didn’t see this outburst coming, saying it has happened “really fast.”
“It's really just a blessing and it feels amazing to know that these colleges are recruiting me, and it's showing that my hard work's starting to pay off,” Harris told
Eleven Warriors on Wednesday. “It's really motivated me to be better because I've still got some room to grow. It's just, I'm coming a long way from last year and just developing.”
Understanding Harris’ rising status among a 2022 crop of Ohioans that has a chance to become be the best to come through the state in many years, the Buckeyes have monitored him dating back to the beginning of his play on the Nike EYBL circuit last summer.
Since then, assistant coach Jake Diebler has built up a “really strong” relationship with him, talking often about their families – “I love it,” he says. Diebler watched Harris play with Richmond Heights as a sophomore once by himself and twice with Chris Holtmann. Ohio State’s coaches also attended a number of open gyms, during which he said he played “really well.”
Harris returned the favors by taking three unofficial visits over the past year, including a trip to see the football team take on Cincinnati on Sept. 7 and a jaunt south on Interstate-71 to see the basketball team face Wisconsin on Jan. 3.
“I love how big it is, the atmosphere,” Harris said. “They love the sports down there. Columbus is just, it's an amazing area. It's a winning program and I just love that about it. It's like a family down there.”
Harris, who lived in Cleveland and Canton before moving to Richmond Heights, didn’t grow up a Buckeyes fan but he has seen plenty of games.
Now, because of what happened on a three-way Zoom call with Holtmann and Diebler on Tuesday, he’ll have the option of playing for Ohio State. Of course, he has plenty of time to make a decision since 2022 prospects can’t sign National Letters of Intent for a year and a half.
“(Holtmann) was just telling me how he loves my game and just telling me a lot about the program and how he loves how I developed over the last year with him recruiting me,” Harris said. “He just loves the kid I am and how I've been outside of basketball, as well, because it's not always just about what you do on the court. It's about what you can do outside, as well, and he really appreciated that or really liked that. He offered me a scholarship. He said he thinks I'd be a great fit for his program.”
During the conversation, Harris says he thought an offer might be coming but was still caught off-guard when the words came out of Holtmann’s mouth.
“It's really a blessing,” Harris said. “It's really crazy to me. I'm literally left speechless. It's just amazing because a lot of people want that offer and just dream of going to Ohio State, and them recruiting me like this, it's just amazing.”
His versatility, he says, was a major draw for the Buckeyes coaching staff.
“I can defend the one through five on defense,” Harris said. “I can shoot the ball very well, so spacing out the floor wouldn't be a problem. I can play multiple positions on offense, and I really think I'm a mismatch problem.”
Recruiting services list Harris at 6-foot-5. In reality, they’re still catching up to his rise heigh-wise the same way they’re making up ground on his ranking.
Harris says he’s grown to 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, making him a potential small forward or power forward at the next level.
“As a matter of fact, I've grown over this whole quarantine,” Harris said. “I'm about to go to the doctor once this is over to see how tall I actually am now. But I've for sure grown.”
As he has grown, so too has his count of scholarship offers.
