OSU Men's Basketball Recruiting/Projections/General Discussions

[nomatta]

I feel like West was the more well-rounded option but Wheeler is a big boost to our perimeter D.

 

[ScriptOhio]

I feel like West was the more well-rounded option but Wheeler is a big boost to our perimeter D.

Provides depth at point guard with C J Walker leaving.

 

[LitlBuck]

A interesting name from the transfer portal is Johnson from Rutgers. He would not bring much to the table offensively but I think his rebounding and defensive presence would offset his offensive production.

 

[DZ83CK]

Provides depth at point guard with C J Walker leaving.

With the roster as is, Wheeler will start. He is not just depth.

 

[DZ83CK]

I'm not naming any names, and I don't have any intel on any specific departures. With that being said, based on general trends in college basketball, I would anticipate at least one and possibly multiple additional departures beyond CJ and Musa. That's just the way it is in college basketball. You have to bring in 4-5 new guys every year or else you end up like Thad did with 9 guys on the roster.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Provides depth at point guard with C J Walker leaving.

With the roster as is, Wheeler will start. He is not just depth.

Just sayin': You could be right. I could easily see him bumping Ahrens out of the starting lineup (with the current list of potential players for 2021-2022):

2020-2021

Justin Ahrens, F
Justice Sueing, F
Kyle Young, F
E. J. Liddell, F
Duane Washington, G

2021-2022

Justice Sueing, F
Kyle Young, F or Zed Key (if Young doesn't return)
E. J. Liddell, F
Duane Washington, SG
Jamari Wheeler, PG

 

[The Land 216]

I would not be surprised if the other penn state transfer comes here to to take the last spot. Harrar would be the big we are looking for. We definitely have contacted him they said

 

[LitlBuck]

I would not be surprised if the other penn state transfer comes here to to take the last spot. Harrar would be the big we are looking for. We definitely have contacted him they said

Yeah why don't we take the guys from PSU that are leaving As I mentioned before this post there are other big men out there that I would prefer over the guy from PSU. He is not that mobile and I think there are other guys out there that I would not mind looking at.

 

[nomatta]

We've contacted Chandler Lawson from Oregon.

Athletic and very long but his stats aren't great.

 

[LitlBuck]

We've contacted Chandler Lawson from Oregon.

Athletic and very long but his stats aren't great.

I am not that worried about stats. I am more interested in a rim protector and someone who can get the ball for us off of the board. I think we have enough shooters that once we get the ball we will be okay.

 

[LitlBuck]

Parker Fox is a D2 transfer that OSU and a slew of other D1 teams have contacted. Plays in Minnesota and he is expected to decide between Minny, OSU, and Creighton. 6'8 PF, very high level athlete, put up huge numbers as he was just overwhelming his competition at that level with his strength, motor, and athleticism. Blocked a ton of shots, averaged something like 23 and 9 or something crazy. Grew up a Gopher fan, though.

 

[nomatta]

As expected, Myles Johnson is headed back to the West Coast. He announced it by saying the computer engineering program he was accepted to... which happens to be at UCLA.

Good for Myles. Pretty good for Mick, too.

 

[nomatta]

Marcus Santos-Silva withdrawing from the portal and staying at Texas Tech.

 

[calibuck]

Would love to find a 'stop-gap' big man for the upcoming year. Being a doughnut team can pay dividends, but will crater against a tough guy inside. tOSU did fantastic against the B10 bigs this year, and EJ/Young worked incredibly well together. Be curious to see how EJ does when he's on the wing, or playing the 4. Might get tangled up, or might give tOSU a great rebounding edge. Dunno. Agree that the Buckeyes needed a D stopper on the opponent's scorer, thought Musa did a very passable job, but apparently, Holtzmann didn't agree, as down the stretch, Musa stayed on the pine. What I feel the Buckeyes need is another scorer/defender combo (I know, hard to find) to relieve Washington/Liddell from having to score. Sueing scored at times, but at others seemed to disappear. Ahrens has the skillset of Diebler, but lacks the ability to get open, as shown down the B10 stretch when the opponent kept a man on him all of the time. Many pieces of different sizes, shapes and skillsets to blend together. Do believe that coach does a great job of substituting as needed for the situations at hand. Believe that tOSU basketball is in it's best place since Thad's early years. Go Bucks!

 

[ScriptOhio]

So, basically Holtmann is looking at three potential big guys and just one spot remaining on the roster. If Young and/or Jimmy Sotos return in the fall, neither would count towards OSU’s scholarship limit, since they were both seniors on the 2020-21 roster — thanks COVID. That means that the Buckeyes have 12 of their 13 scholarships accounted for, following the transfer of Musa Jallow.

Getting a big man to join Malaki Branham (Holtmann’s top recruit while at Ohio State) and Kalen Etzler in the 2021 recruiting class would be very nice. But, if they don’t land one of these three, they can either keep looking at the transfer portal — as they often have for veteran guards — or they can pocket the scholarship and potentially bring in an extra player in 2022, which is currently the top-rated class in the country.

I think Holtmann’s squad should be very good next season, depending on Young’s decision, the team is essentially the same as the one that earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But, we all know what happened to them as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, so it would be nice to add one more very big — literally and figuratively — piece to the puzzle in 2021.

The men’s basketball signing period officially begins tomorrow

Which is today Wednesday, April 14, 2021.