SF David Lighty (Most Career Buckeye Wins, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne Basket - France)

[gbearbuck]

Great news!!! I should go on vacation more often

Are the big two friends of Lighty or just Cook? This cannot hurt...

It looks like several really good soph. are also looking at tOSU... Matta could be on the verge of some really big things... now we just need to get the students on the floor (instead of the prof's)....

 

[ShakerBuck]

David Lighty

Just got back from the David Lighty Press Conference. As expected he announced his intention of attending tOSU to play basketball

He also DID NOT rule out playing football at tOSU, in his words he said it "would be nice" to play both and that he would welcome the conversation with Coach Tressel

I doubt that he will, but he was the top rated football prospect in his class when he did indeed play.....6-5 205 athletic WR

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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David Lighty

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>Lighty Announces Commitment At Press Conference
By Bucknuts.com Staff
Date: May 2, 2005

OSU basketball recruiting has been on a roll, and it continues to pick up momentum in a big way with the commitment of five-star prospect David Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Lighty made the announcement that he would attend Ohio State a short time ago at a press conference at his school.
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The cat had been out of the bag for a couple of days, but just moments ago, junior David Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph has made his decision official -- he will be playing college basketball at Ohio State.

The 6-5, 190 pound small forward announced at a press conference this afternoon that he has given a verbal commitment to Ohio State over Syracuse, Michigan, and several other schools that had extended a scholarship offer.

Lighty averaged 24.5 points and 11.8 rebounds a game last season, although his season was cut short by an ACL tear. Lighty is currently rehabilitating his injury.

Lighty is rated as the consensus No. 2 prospect in Ohio's junior behind Dayton Dunbar guard and fellow OSU commitment Daequan Cook. Lighty is rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 16 overall prospect in America by scout.com.

An outstanding athlete, Lighty was also among the top football prospects in his class and for a while was rated as the No. 1 overall prospect by Ohio High recruiting editor Duane Long. Lighty chose to give up football and concentrate on basketball before the start of the 2004 football season.

Lighty becomes the second player to verbally commit to Ohio State's recruiting class for 2006. The Buckeyes are also strong contenders for verbal commitments from five-star prospects Greg Oden and Mike Conley of Indianapolis Lawrence North.

We will have more to come from Lighty's press conference shortly.

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[Baschii06]

i think it is just time before oden and conley commit b/c they visit this weekend with cook being there too to help push the evelope. Plus from the articles i read it seems as if they are both favoring osu anyways.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I don't think he will, but if he does play football....how does that scholarship count? Does it go against the football schollies, basketball, or both?

 

[BB73]

I don't think he will, but if he does play football....how does that scholarship count? Does it go against the football schollies, basketball, or both?

It would go against football only. NCAA has a pecking order by sport.

If Thad has a shot at another 5-star recruit after the class is full, do you think he'd ask JT to put Lighty on the football squad in order to free up a schollie?

 

[sears3820]

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http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/376072.html​

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David Lighty

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>Lighty Announces Commitment At Press Conference
By Bucknuts.com Staff
Date: May 2, 2005

OSU basketball recruiting has been on a roll, and it continues to pick up momentum in a big way with the commitment of five-star prospect David Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Lighty made the announcement that he would attend Ohio State a short time ago at a press conference at his school.
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The cat had been out of the bag for a couple of days, but just moments ago, junior David Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph has made his decision official -- he will be playing college basketball at Ohio State.

The 6-5, 190 pound small forward announced at a press conference this afternoon that he has given a verbal commitment to Ohio State over Syracuse, Michigan, and several other schools that had extended a scholarship offer.



"For the last two years or so, I've been trying to decide on what college I'm going to go to," Lighty said at the beginning of the conference. "To extend my career at the next level, I have decided to attend Ohio State."

Lighty put on an OSU cap during the announcement to a round of applause.

"It was a long process, a tough process," Lighty added, after thanking all the schools that had recruited him.

Lighty said a visit with OSU head coach Thad Matta went a long way in helping to make his decision.

"Two or three weeks ago, I started to feel real strong about Ohio State," Lighty said. "Coach came in about the 18th or 19th." Lighty averaged 24.5 points and 11.8 rebounds a game last season, although his season was cut short by an ACL tear. Lighty is currently rehabilitating his injury.

Lighty is rated as the consensus No. 2 prospect in Ohio's junior behind Dayton Dunbar guard and fellow OSU commitment Daequan Cook. Lighty is rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 16 overall prospect in America by scout.com.



Lighty discussed the fact that he will be playing with Cook.

"It really didn't have much to do with me going there, but it's good that he's going there too. We could have one of the best backcourts in the nation," Lighty said. An outstanding athlete, Lighty was also among the top football prospects in his class and for a while was rated as the No. 1 overall prospect by Ohio High recruiting editor Duane Long. Lighty chose to give up football and concentrate on basketball before the start of the 2004 football season.

Lighty becomes the second player to verbally commit to Ohio State's recruiting class for 2006. The Buckeyes are also strong contenders for verbal commitments from five-star prospects Greg Oden and Mike Conley of Indianapolis Lawrence North.

We will have more to come from this press conference very soon.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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David Lighty

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By Gary Housteau
Date: May 2, 2005

David Lighty made it official this afternoon when he donned an Ohio State hat in front of family, friends, media members and school mates in his high school gymnasium. He's now looking forward to a full recovery from his knee injury and a successful senior season on the hardwood at VASJ High School before he begins his hoop career as a Buckeye.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT.COM$

5/3/05

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David Lighty

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Lighty Can Now Focus On Rehab And Being A Buckeye
By Gary Housteau
Date: May 3, 2005

A terrible knee injury suffered on a dunk kept David Lighty and his VASJ hoop teammates from possibly winning a state title this past season. Before Lighty joins Daequan Cook at Ohio State, he wants one last crack at winning a state title. It's something that the versatile and multi-talented athlete hasn't been able to get yet in football or in basketball basketball at his high school.
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Great article....David said the he started to look at OSU hard after a visit by coach Matta and the next day he knew he wanted to be a Buckeye. He also mentioned that Cook's verbal was not a main reason for his decision, but that it will be nice to play with Cook and they can form one of the best backcourts around. David will be in Columbus for an unofficial visit along with Cook, Conley and Oden. He said that they could possibly be like the next "Fab Five".​

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David is still on crutches and will begin rehab again in a few weeks and should be back by September. He talked about the possiblity of playing football at OSU and that he still loves the game. He possibly could help recruit another top prospect that is on his AAU team...Dallas Lauderdale.​

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[aurorabuckeye13]

how great would that be for tressel... matta recruits him a great player...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com$

5/3/05

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David Lighty

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What They're Saying: Lighty Verbal
By Steve Helwagen
Date: May 3, 2005

Ohio State's basketball recruiting efforts have caught the eye of analysts across the country. The commitment of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph guard/forward David Lighty assures that OSU will have an outstanding recruiting class, regardless of what happens from here on out. We caught up with ScoutHoops.com analyst Dave Telep and HoopScoopOnline.com analyst Chris Johnson to discuss what to expect from Lighty and what the commitment means to OSU.
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Telep says if OSU is able to land Oden/Conley to go with Cook/Lighty, they are positioning themselves very well with the talent in the 07, 08 classes to make a run at the national championship. He touched on the fact OSU has made it known they are going to close the fence around Ohio and that this helps land other prospects out of state when you have 2 top 30 players verballed, it causes a domino effect sometimes.

Johnson says Lighty/Cook are interchangeable and they will form a great backcourt. If Ohio State, lands Oden/Conley, we would probably be the top class.

link

5/3/05

'Thad Five' looking like a possibility



On Monday, the media, fans, family and friends met David Lighty, the future Ohio State basketball player.
It didn't take long after Villa Angela-St. Joseph's Lighty officially let out of the hat the area's worst-kept secret - he intends on playing in Columbus, starting in 2006 - that his sights were set on his official college visit to the OSU campus this weekend.
It won't be just another token recruiting trip. As excited as Lighty was to make his college intentions known on Monday, the thought of what potentially lies ahead for Ohio State basketball made the nation's No. 17-rated junior's eyes light up.
With his college decision behind him, a relieved Lighty and Dayton Dunbar's Daequan Cook, Ohio's No. 1-rated junior by several recruiting services who is also verbally committed to OSU, hopes his future coach, Thad Matta, can extend his recruiting touch beyond the Ohio border.
Looming in Indianapolis is the equivalent of the Lighty/Cook tandem: the nation's top high school junior, 6-foot-11 Greg Oden, and point guard Mike Conley Jr., both of Lawrence North High School. Also in the mix is a 6-foot-8 forward from Memphis, Tenn., Thaddeus Young, the nation's No. 7-rated junior. The three out-of-staters are planning to join Lighty and Cook for an official visit to the Ohio State campus this weekend.
Lighty's recruiting pitch to Oden, Conley Jr. and Young?
"Hopefully we'll be the next North Carolina, be the next "Fab Five" and win the national championship," said Lighty, sporting an Ohio State cap during his news conference at VASJ.
Should all things come to fruition, years from now they won't be known as the next "Fab Five," referring to the University of Michigan class that featured the likes of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose.
Any mention of the "Fab Five" inside the Schottenstein Center would make any Buckeye fan cringe. Rather, a moniker being tossed around Columbus pertaining to this potential recruiting class is "The Thad Five."
"That's a nice name," Lighty said of the moniker. "It's something different. Let's hope it sticks."
Recruiting will never be an exact science, but Matta and his coaches must be ecstatic where the recruiting trail has taken them. The same can be said of Lighty.
"I think the chances are pretty high we're going to get them all," Lighty said of Oden, Conley Jr. and Young. "I think it's way better than a 50/50 chance. For all of them, Ohio State is already in their top two. Now (the coaches) have to reel them in."
Matta clearly knows how to seal the deal. He's done it with Cook and now with Lighty, both Ohioans. The biggest test will be this weekend, especially trying to talk Oden, rumored to be the likely No. 1 pick of the '06 draft, that Columbus should be his future home and not the Charlotte Bobcats or Atlanta Hawks. Oden was recently quoted as saying he intends to attend college.
Lighty's mother, Emily, can attest Matta's simple approach to recruiting works, as did a memorable victory to close out the regular season.
"He's very personable, down to earth and very approachable," Emily Lighty said of Matta. "David is like that as well, and that helped. I was very impressed by him as a coach. He also had a feather in his cap when his team beat Illinois."
VASJ coach Dave Wojciechowski raved about Matta, who began recruiting Lighty when he was the coach at Xavier.
"Forty-five minutes after he got the job (at Ohio State), Thad called me to let me know David was a priority for them. They wanted David. That says something special."
Two prized recruits are on the way for Matta. A potential for "The Thad Five" is a real possibility if more sparks are made this weekend. Lighty can help make those sparks happen.
Better yet for Matta and OSU, he seems excited to give it a try.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT.COM$

5/31/05

From BN.....A great article about Lighty's recruitment from his mother's perspective. She said the process was fast paced and overwelming at times.

 

[wadc45]

Despite the injury, David is still listed as the #17 player overall in the new 2006 Rivals rankings.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

LINK

6/29/05



Quote:
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OSU's recruiting class to be 'Fantastic Four'


Wednesday, June 29, 2005 Bruce Hooley
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus - Thad Matta's promise before Ohio State hired him as its men's basketball coach sounded bold and brash, but might prove overwhelmingly understated.

Hire me, Matta told the search committee when he interviewed last July, and I'll put a fence around <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State><ST1:place>Ohio</ST1:place></st1:State> when it comes to recruiting.

Today, Matta and his staff are expected to expand those boundaries by claiming oral commitments from USA Today national Player of the Year Greg Oden and his Indianapolis Lawrence North teammate, Mike Conley Jr.<O:p></O:p>

<O:p> </O:p>

The 7-0, 240-pound Oden is the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2006. He likely would be the top pick in the NBA draft next year, if not for a new 19-year-old NBA entry age limit that will force the center to play college basketball for at least one season.

Conley, a 6-1 point guard, is a consensus top 25 player nationally and ranked as the No. 4 point guard by Scout.com.

They join earlier OSU commitments Daequan Cook of Dayton Dunbar and David Lighty of Cleveland Villa-Angela St. Joseph.

Oden and Conley have scheduled a <st1:time Hour="14" Minute="0">2 p.m.</st1:time> press conference today to announce their college choice.

Matta and his coaches cannot comment on any of the players until they sign binding letters of intent with <ST1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> in October. The Indianapolis Star reported last week that the players would announce for OSU.

"I don't think there are going to be any surprises," said Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com. "Everything I hear tells me Oden and Conley are headed to <ST1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> to join Cook and Lighty, which is just amazing given all the obstacles Thad Matta had to fight through."

One year ago today, Matta still was more than one week removed from being hired at OSU. The program was immersed in the morass of Jim O'Brien's firing and rumored NCAA violations.

Those rumors have grown fangs over the past 12 months as details arose about O'Brien giving a former recruit $6,700 and accusations that former assistant coach Paul Biancardi orchestrated a system in which an OSU booster's housekeeper provided cash, gifts and improper academic assistance to former player Boban Savovic.
<ST1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place> has admitted that further NCAA sanctions are likely beyond the one-year tournament ban the school self-imposed this past season.

Despite all that, Matta and his staff ran down a class analysts already rate favorably with the "Fab Five" at <st1:State><ST1:place>Michigan</ST1:place></st1:State> in the early 1990s.<O:p></O:p>

"Right now, instead of a 'Fab Five', we'll call it a 'Fantastic Four'," said national recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons of All Star Report. "If they get Raymar Morgan of Canton McKinley, that would give them five guys in the top 25 nationally. But even without Morgan, what Thad Matta has done is amazing."

Last year, Matta gave immediate notice of the importance he placed upon recruiting by delaying his appearance at his debut press conference at OSU by one day so he and assistant coach John Groce could attend the July 8 start of the ABCD Camp in Teaneck, N.J.

Oden, Conley, Cook and Lighty all were present at that camp, although Matta and Groce were barred by NCAA rules from speaking to them.

Hired at OSU only the day before, neither Matta nor Groce was certain any of the players knew they had left <ST1:place><st1:PlaceName>Xavier</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceName>University</st1:PlaceName></ST1:place> for OSU. Their wardrobe didn't give away the news, either, since both headed for <st1:State><ST1:place>New Jersey</ST1:place></st1:State> without any OSU shirts or other logo apparel.

Instead, Matta and Groce improvised, with Matta wearing a gray polo and Groce a maroon shirt that was the closest color in his closet to OSU scarlet. The two coaches stood side-by-side as the players took the court and hoped the subliminal message came across.

That relentless approach doesn't surprise OSU professor John Bruno, who was a member of the search committee that affirmed Matta's hiring.

"When Thad talked to us, he had such a passion and such an energy level, I was tired at the end of the interview," Bruno said. "I think we all were. He just reflected this clear confidence, without being boisterous, of his vision for the program and what it could become. He had a plan, and he shared it with us, and one aspect of that plan was the fence he wanted to put around <st1:State><ST1:place>Ohio</ST1:place></st1:State>. It looks like he's done that and gone beyond it a bit."

Cook was the corner post for the "Thad Four," committing to OSU shortly after its surprising 65-64 upset of unbeaten <st1:State><ST1:place>Illinois</ST1:place></st1:State> in the final regular-season game.

Since then, he has been applying the full-court press to Oden and Conley - his AAU teammates since the seventh grade - to join him at <ST1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></ST1:place>.

"Conley, Oden and Cook, first and foremost, are really close and really good friends," Telep said. "[Matta] sold those guys on the concept of taking their friendship to the same school."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
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[Yertle]

With Cook, Conley, and Oden all being such great friends, I hope Lighty isn't left out when it comes to floor involvement. Granted, that's over a year away, and I really shouldn't be concerning myself with this, but with Cook at today's press conference and after reading that previous article, I couldn't help but wonder.