OSU Men's Basketball Recruiting/Projections/General Discussions

[Buckskin86]

With point guard Shannon Scott of Alpharetta, Ga., committed to the class of 2011, Matta said he would like to add two more players during the summer recruiting period. "We definitely need another big man, and maybe a big wing," he said.

The big-man candidates are headed by Amir Williams of Detroit, Cody Zeller of Washington, Ind., and Anthony Davis of Chicago.

The big-wing candidates include Sam Thompson of Chicago and Adonis Thomas of Memphis. Thompson recently trimmed his list to five that include Ohio State, Kansas, Florida, Georgetown and Oregon State.

Another rangy wing the Buckeyes had been pursuing was Scott's high school teammate, Julian Royal, but recent comments by their coach, David Boyd, indicate Royal will stay closer to home and play in the Atlantic Coast or Southeastern conferences.

Matta on a few matters (Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog)

 

[Buckskin86]

Big-name coaches watch the action, including West Virginia's Bob Huggins and North Carolina's Roy Williams (clockwise from top left), Arizona's Sean Miller and Ohio State's Thad Matta, Louisville Rick Pitino and son Richard, a Florida assistant; and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. - MATT DETRICH / The Star

Stars come out | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGL8mII1oJs"]YouTube- Indiana Elite 17s - 2010 Adidas Invitational vs. Dallas[/ame]

 

[LitlBuck]

Random thoughts. It seems like we are in pretty good shape with Sam Thompson and Chane Behanan and falling down the list of Anthony Davis's especially if UNC gets involved. I know is a lot of speculation that we are in pretty good shape with Amir Williams and possibly Parker and others. I guess one of my questions is that with the commitment from Scott that means that we will only be able (I think) to sign 2 recruits, in addition to Scott, in the early signing period.

I would think that if someone else would like to come aboard if we sign Scott +2 other players in the early signing period they would have to wait until spring and I don't know if any players mentioned above are willing to wait until spring to sign. While I like Thompson and Behanan, it seems like they almost play the same position and with the possibility of "the Mayor" leaving town after one season I would think that Matta would like to sign a true 5 which neither of the above are. So if we would not land Williams, we might have to go after one of the so-called projects mentioned in this forum. I guess my real question is if Williams decides he wants to come to Ohio State and Thompson and Behanan want to come what happens. We can assume that we will have an additional scholarship in the spring even if "the Mayor" decides not to leave because there is no way Buford is going to stay. Just trying to figure out what positions are needed most in this recruiting class considering Ohio and Indiana are pretty well-stocked in 2012.

 

[AkronBuck25]

who is plan B?

lets say we miss out on Davis, Behanan, and Thompson (from chicago) who are the Plan B Guys to finish out the class? i find it hard to believe we just take scott. Do we start to recruit Sampson from SVSM hard?

also which of the 3 above (Davis, Behanan, Thompson) is the most likley to be a Buckeye?

 

[LitlBuck]

lets say we miss out on Davis, Behanan, and Thompson (from chicago) who are the Plan B Guys to finish out the class? i find it hard to believe we just take scott. Do we start to recruit Sampson from SVSM hard?

also which of the 3 above (Davis, Behanan, Thompson) is the most likley to be a Buckeye?

I tried to generate a little discussion about your post in this thread where it more properly belongs. I think the individual threads should remain individual:)

Basketball Recruiting Projections/General Discussions

 

[BuckTwenty]

I've thought that we have been in excellent shape with Sam Thompson and Anthony Davis. I know Anthony has talked to Sam about potentially playing together and that current commit Shannon Scott is actively recruiting both of them to come play with him. Seems that North Carolina is no longer in the picture for Anthony, but Kentucky and John Calipari scare me.

We graduate 3 (Lighty, Diebler, and Lauderdale), plus we should plan for AT LEAST one of Buford/Sullinger/Thomas to leave early for the NBA. I would be SHOCKED if all of those 3 stay... Buford in particular if he has an Evan Turner type of year like he's due to have next year. And that's not including potential transfers, which have plagued us in a way I've never seen in college basketball. I'm thinking we're looking at a 4-6 man recruiting class for 2011, even though we're sitting at 3 currently.

For sure, this team needs a PG (open spot), SG (Diebler), SF (Lighty), and PF/C (Lauderdale) in this class. Scott (PG), Davis(PF/C), and Thompson (SF) would fill 3 of those needs. Davis and Thompson would be perfect fits for this ball club. However, with Diebler leaving and Buford potentially leaving, this class really needs a SG, in my opinion. We have offers out to 3 guys that could fill the position in 2011 (Adonis Thomas, Dai-Jon Parker, and Ben McLemore) and 4 offers out to 2012 SGs (Gary Harris, Jeremy Hollowell, Buss Patterson, and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera)... all 4 of which are Indiana boys.




On a side note, Lord bless Thad Matta.

 

[BuckTwenty]

lets say we miss out on Davis, Behanan, and Thompson (from chicago) who are the Plan B Guys to finish out the class? i find it hard to believe we just take scott. Do we start to recruit Sampson from SVSM hard?

also which of the 3 above (Davis, Behanan, Thompson) is the most likley to be a Buckeye?

No inside info, but I'd say Thompson. He has 3 offers (Ohio State, Oregon State, and Florida) and we are his closest offer to home. He also lists Kansas and Georgetown, but doesn't have an offer from either of them.

Would not be surprised if Evan Turner (Chicago native) would have a positive effect for our recruiting there with Thompson and Davis.

 

[AkronBuck25]

id love to get DSR out of Indiana next year he averaged 20-6-6 last season wouldnt surprise me if he came close to a trip-doub average next year

 

[LitlBuck]

Among the candidates to which Scott is referring are 6-9 center Khem Birch of Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep, 6-9 power forward Anthony Davis of Chicago Perspective and 6-7 forward Sam Thompson of Chicago Whitney Young.

This is about the third or fourth time that I have seen Scott mention that he would like to see Davis and Thompson join him in this class so I have to think that he has been talking to both of those guys and might feel good about what he is hearing.

If we can get those two guys and possibly Behanan, McLemore, Ross, or Parker that would be very nice. I can dream can't I.

 

[LitlBuck]

Is it weird I feel more comfortable with OSU's chances when it's Thad recruiting against Calipari Boeheim than I would if it were Tressel going up against Saban and Meyer? Either way, glad to see UNC is not in the mix. I would be very surprised if this decision didn't come down to OSU or Kentucky. A class of Thompson, Hollowell, Davis and Scott would be amazing...

I cannot believe you made a mistake but I also know that everyone is not perfect and you did correct your error.

It was rather interesting to see that you like Thad's chancing of landing the big recruits going up against the heavyweights of coaching better than JT's. Trying to understand that but comparing sports is pretty difficult. Perhaps JT's supposedly conservative offense works against him and percentagewise many more of Matta's guys have gone professional than JT's. Is it also possible that Matta gets more involved in the actual recruitment of the players compared to Tressel. Just thinking out loud.

With regard to the players, I did notice that you changed Hollowell to Behanan. The 4 guys that you mentioned would be an excellent class but I don't know if Behanan and Thompson play the same position or not. I would assume that Thompson will play the 4 which means that Behanan would have to play the 3 but one of the posters stated that he had seen Behanan and that Chane would be too slow to the perimeter. Also, some of the other guys question whether Davis would be big enough to play the center position because of his weight. I am not concerned about that because of his tremendous athletic ability. I mean it is not like he is playing defense in the NBA where they allow football to be played in the meadow. We also have the transfer from BC who could play the 5 position.

Also, with one guy, at least, leaving early next year we will have easily 4 scholarships available and depending on what happens with the Kecman situation we could easily have 5 scholarships available and maybe we could go after Williams. However, I don't know if we can over sign in the early signing period without knowing the status of Buford, Sullinger, Kecman, and even Thomas. Might want to bank some schollies for the loaded 2012 class.

It would be nice if everyone posting in the basketball forum will keep the general posts in this thread or I might have to call grad to clean up the individual threads:)

 

[AkronBuck25]

I cannot believe you made a mistake but I also know that everyone is not perfect and you did correct your error.

It was rather interesting to see that you like Thad's chancing of landing the big recruits going up against the heavyweights of coaching better than JT's. Trying to understand that but comparing sports is pretty difficult. Perhaps JT's supposedly conservative offense works against him and percentagewise many more of Matta's guys have gone professional than JT's. Is it also possible that Matta gets more involved in the actual recruitment of the players compared to Tressel. Just thinking out loud.

With regard to the players, I did notice that you changed Hollowell to Behanan. The 4 guys that you mentioned would be an excellent class but I don't know if Behanan and Thompson play the same position or not. I would assume that Thompson will play the 4 which means that Behanan would have to play the 3 but one of the posters stated that he had seen Behanan and that Chane would be too slow to the perimeter. Also, some of the other guys question whether Davis would be big enough to play the center position because of his weight. I am not concerned about that because of his tremendous athletic ability. I mean it is not like he is playing defense in the NBA where they allow football to be played in the meadow. We also have the transfer from BC who could play the 5 position.

Also, with one guy, at least, leaving early next year we will have easily 4 scholarships available and depending on what happens with the Kecman situation we could easily have 5 scholarships available and maybe we could go after Williams. However, I don't know if we can over sign in the early signing period without knowing the status of Buford, Sullinger, Kecman, and even Thomas. Might want to bank some schollies for the loaded 2012 class.

It would be nice if everyone posting in the basketball forum will keep the general posts in this thread or I might have to call grad to clean up the individual threads:)

why would Thompson go to the 4? why not the 2? plus Behanan has said he is only going to a school that will at least try him at the 3

 

[wadc45]

I see Thompson as a 2/3 and Behanan as a 3/4...

 

[LitlBuck]

why would Thompson go to the 4? why not the 2? plus Behanan has said he is only going to a school that will at least try him at the 3

I see Thompson as a 2/3 and Behanan as a 3/4...

Agree with both of you. I had my numbers and players screwed up:!

 

[Buckskin86]

Buckeye basketball recruiting thriving under Matta
Since Thad Matta arrived at Ohio State in 2004, blue-chip basketball talent has followed on a nearly-annual basis.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
By: Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com

The Ohio State University is still a football school. Always will be as long as 100,000-plus fans keep packing The Shoe on Saturdays in the fall.
Photo by Getty Images
Head Coach Thad Matta of Ohio State.

But don't tell that to head basketball coach Thad Matta, who has put Buckeye hoops in elite company with an incredible run of success on the recruiting trail since his 2004 arrival in Columbus.

That success has translated into wins. In six seasons at OSU, Matta has delivered three Big Ten titles and a trip to the Final Four in 2007 among four NCAA Tournament appearances.

The only knock on the former Butler and Xavier head coach has been his inability to keep blue-chip recruits on campus ? and that is a major stretch. With each NBA Draft early entrant that has left the program, Matta has re-stocked the roster in impressive fashion.

Ohio State has produced six first-round picks in the last four NBA Drafts ? Evan Turner (2010, No. 2 overall pick), B.J. Mullens (2009, No. 24), Kosta Koufous (2008, No. 23), Greg Oden (2007, No. 1), Mike Conley Jr., (2007, No. 4) and Daequan Cook (2007, No. 21). Only Turner stayed longer than a year.

Several elite prospects, including Mississippi's LaQuinton Ross and Louisiana's Ricardo Gathers, identified Ohio State as a prominent player in their recruitment last week in Las Vegas.

Buckeye basketball recruiting thriving under Matta - MaxPreps News

 

[y0yoyoin]

JJHuddle.com - AAU Super Showcase: Ohio well represented in Orlando; Who did what

ORLANDO, FLA. – Ohio High School Hoops/JJ Huddle made the trip south to cover the AAU Super Showcase and AAU 16 and 17-and-under National Tournaments.

Our coverage will be a two-part series starting today with our recap of the AAU Super Showcase, which featured some of the best U14-U17 teams throughout the country.

http://www.jjhuddle.com/nbc4i/index.php?subpage=Article&article=4839

Orlando, Fla. – The AAU National Tournament has come and gone, but 2010 wasn’t as kind to the Ohio troops as last season when Ohio won national championships in each of the three major age groups, U15-U17.

In our two-part series we will first take a look at the 16-and-under division where Ohio did enjoy some success. There were no championships, but All-Ohio Red was oh so close.

Red finished runner-up in the Super Showcase just a week ago and in doing so they defeated BABC. However, a week later, Red would once again face BABC in the U16 National Championship tilt. Once again, AOR ended runner-up as BABC avenged the Super Showcase setback with a 56-53 win to capture the 2010 U16 National Title