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SG Walter Offutt (Asst. BBall Coach Toledo Rockets)

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unreal. This has to be quite rare... the guy is a great coach and had good success so far, but nothing to warrant better recruiting than NC or Duke. He must be an incredible guy and be able to recruit anyone he wants once he talks to them.

The amazing thing is, he is going to have a lot less recruiting to do in the future (tho knowing him, he may keep it up), and have more time to focus on being a coach.

Welcome aboard!
 
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Sounds like the other "services" have him rated high as well...

How was Matta's recruiting while at XU? I think he is a great recruiter with a great school/conference to sell... I only hope this recruiting success doesn't bring other schools swooping in, trying to lure him away...

He could build a great dynasty at tOSU... we were a very good program back in the day, we do have a history in B-ball....
 
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He had a pretty good recruiting class before he headed here... they didn't pan out but the recruiting gurus thought it was a good one at the time. I don't know that it was nationally impressive, but pretty good for the school.
 
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Matta is maximizing his contacts in Indiana to lay the foundation for this program.

In the specific case of Offutt, the relationship between him and Coach Matta was the reason he verbaled to Ohio State.

I only hope this recruiting success doesn't bring other schools swooping in, trying to lure him away...
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That is always a concern but what coach in their right mind would leave in the next few years with the classes coming into Ohio State? The only job I could realisitcally see Matta being interested in is the Indiana job but the timing would probably not be right for Matta to leave Ohio State with this foundation being layed.
 
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wadc45 said:
I know this kid didn't come out of nowhere, but his verbal sures seem to have. I had read up on him but never once saw him mention Ohio State in any article on Scout or Rivals. Even going back now and reading up on him I don't see any indication that he was an OSU recruit. And then boom...he verbals to Coach Matta and gives OSU an unreal 1-2 combination with Mullens to start the '08 class. Most impressive by Thad and his staff...
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Hell 44820 didnt even have a thread on him.

I really likes this kids upside.
 
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This is fantastic. This is the most excited I've been about BB since the Gary Williams days.

Matta's really starting to get to the IU fans. One guy at Peegs has this as his signature.

State_of_Ohio.jpg
 
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link

10/5/05


Warren Central sophomore declares for Buckeyes

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[SIZE=-1]Associated Press[/SIZE]
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INDIANAPOLIS - Walter Offutt, a 6-foot-3 sophomore at Warren Central, says he plans to play college basketball at Ohio State.

Offutt, who averaged 10 points a game as a freshman, made an unofficial visit to Ohio State last weekend. He cannot sign a letter of intent, however, until November 2007, when he is a high school senior.

"I just like the coaching staff very much, and I like it there," he said.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta previously coached at Butler in Indianapolis.

"They recruit you on basketball, but coach Matta cares about you more than just basketball," Offutt told The Indianapolis Star. "It's like a father-son thing."

Offutt is recovering from a knee injury and isn't expected to play until possibly January.

He is the third Indianapolis player to make an oral commitment with the Buckeyes recently. Greg Oden and teammate Mike Conley of two-time defending Class 4A champion Lawrence North, both seniors this season, said in June they would attend Ohio State next year. The 7-foot Oden is the frontrunner for the 2006 Indiana Mr. Basketball.
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hoopscooponline.com

10/5/05

via Reggie Tisdale of Indiana Basketball News that 6'3 Soph Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN, who is ranked #8 in the sophomore class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Ohio State. "When you get Greg Oden, it looks like everybody else wants to follow," says Tisdale. "But you also have to give the Ohio State coaching staff a lot of credit, because Offutt, becomes the fourth player from Indiana that the Buckeyes have landed since Thad Matta took over a-year-and-a-half ago." The first Indiana kid that he got was 6'2 Sylvester Mays, who originally is from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, but played two years in junior college at Redlands (JC) OK. Then, they landed 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'1 Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN in this year's recruiting class and Offutt will count towards Ohio State's recruiting class two years from now. Speaking of Class of 2008, did you know that the Buckeyes also have an early verbal commitment from 6'10 Soph B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (World Harvest Christian) OH, who is one of the top five players in the sophomore class nationally? So suddenly the Buckeyes not only clearly have the #1-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006, but they also are way out in front of USC, Tennessee, Louisville, and Mississippi, which are the only schools that even have early verbal commitments from players in the Class of 2008. And, with 6'4 Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'5 David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, and 6'8 Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH also already in the fold and a strong possibility that they will also get 6'9 Jr Dallas Lauderdale from Solon (H.S.) OH, 7'1 Jr Kosta Koufas from North Canton (H.S.) OH, 6'9 Soph Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, it's obvious that the Buckeyes are cleaning up in not one, but two states when it comes to recruiting. And in neither case is this a surprise. Remember, Ohio State is the state school around which everything in Ohio revolves and, prior to moving onto Xavier and Ohio State, Matta was the head coach at Butler, which explains why the Buckeyes have such a strong recruiting presence in Indianapolis, IN. Getting back to Offutt, Tisdale compares his game to former Indiana University All-American Greg Graham's game at the same stage. "They both are explosive athletes, both are great defenders, and both have an excellent pull-up jumper," says Tisdale. "But whether Offutt will develop the 22-foot shooting range that Graham did in college remains to be seen. Offutt also will be out until January with a torn ACL, which means his progress has been slowed. But, if Ohio State is accepting a verbal commitment from him, the must be pretty confident that he's going to fully recover." And making the Graham/Offutt comparison even more ironic is the fact that they both attended the same high school (Warren Central) IN and I got a chance to see both players for the first time when they were in 8th Grade.
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NewYorkBuck said:
Thad is amazing. Recruiting means even more in hoops than it does in football. He is turning OSU into and absolute juggernaught. If he keeps this up, he will be putting us in position for a shot at the F4 almost every year.
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Yeah, but I'm getting concerned about the 2009 class. Do we have any commits yet? I mean these guys have been in high school for several weeks already! In a few more weeks they'll have actually played a high school game!!! :tongue2:

Seriously, awesome job by Coach Matta. I was glad to see him on the way to the Iowa game, just outside the Schott - I just shook his hand and said 'Great job with the program'.
 
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wow, this is crazy. I've seen this kid around a lot. I don't go to Warren, but my school was in a summer league, along with some summer tourneys with them and I recognize him. Just weird that someone so close is an OSU commit (Oden and Conley are a bit away from me 30-40 minutes maybe). I watched Warren Central play about 7-8 times in the past 2 years.

I don't have any comments on his abilities as I honestly don't remember seeing him play and even if I did, I don't remember any specifics as I wasn't scouting him. I recognize him pretty well though, and if I'd known he was going to end up at OSU I would have been looking for him more. I'll definently make it to some more games this year and hopefully see him in next years summer league.

Also, my friend plays with Indiana Elite (not sure if it's the same age bracket) so he might know him.
 
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