COLUMBUS, Ohio – Recruiting is often about collecting players. It can also be about creating a team.
After watching a 2013-14 Ohio State team whose top eight players consisted of two point guards (Aaron Craft, Shannon Scott) two stretch-four power forwards who didn't play much together (LaQuinton Ross, Marc Loving), two similar defense-first wings (Sam Thompson, Lenzelle Smith) and two offensively ineffective big men (Amir Williams, Trey McDonald), the idea of creating a team, not just collecting parts, was reinforced.
Last year's Buckeyes needed a shooter. Last year's Buckeyes needed someone who could consistently get buckets inside.
I joked more than once that Ohio State just needed to swap one of the point guards to fill one of those needs at the trade deadline and they'd be fine. Craft and Scott could have run the offense for a lot of teams, and point guards can be hard to find. They had value, but on that OSU team, they were so similar, you both gained and lost something when you played them together.
In the 2015 recruiting class, the Buckeyes aren't just collecting parts. They're making a team and are close to a five-man class that you could throw out there as a starting lineup and say let's go. And combined with the incoming class of 2014 freshmen ... things looks interesting.
Ohio State has been very good under Thad Matta for 10 years, with five regular-season Big Ten titles, five Sweet Sixteens and two trips to the Final Four.
A roster needs a superstar or two to emerge, needs to play together on defense and needs to be unselfish on offense. But looking way ahead at the possibilities for 2015-16 and 2016-17, the Buckeyes should like their chances of making a run both years.
The players and the fit for the 2014 and 2015 classes look that good.
First, Ohio State may want to finish off the 2015 class with a fifth player that could finalize a true starting lineup in that group.
The Buckeyes did that with the 2010 class – Craft at the point, Jordan Sibert at the two guard, Smith at small forward, Deshaun Thomas at power forward and Jared Sullinger at center. That group plus William Buford took the Buckeyes to the 2012 Final Four.
