Hoops Update
The OHSAA Central District Championships took place at Ohio Dominican on Saturday with several prospects of interest for the Buckeyes in the 2018-2020 classes.
Dane Goodwin - The class of 2018 Ohio State commit struggled to find his shot with just 10 points, a good chunk of those came at the free throw line but his Upper Arlington team advanced to the regionals with a win over Hilliard Bradley. Bradley made Goodwin the focal point defensively, getting up in his face with pressure but also running two guys at him when he would come off screens or handoffs. I'm used to seeing Goodwin drop 30 points in these types of games, as he did in both previous games I watched this season.
So this was definitely the poorest offensive game I've seen Dane play the past two years and he was visibly frustrated in the first half where I thought he was forcing some tough shots just to try and get going. In the second half, he took on more of a distributor role and UA was better off for it as they pulled away in the fourth quarter. Not going to hold this one against him too much as this was an outlier based on the previous handful of games I've seen, but it did highlight his need to improve his ball handling.
Obviously there is no recruiting news to report here. Goodwin is committed and is as solid as it gets.
Jerome Hunter - The class of 2018 Pickerington North forward looked like a McDonald's All-American in the first half with 20 points and then sort of floated around in the second half before fouling out with about a minute to go. His Pick North team did hit a three with less than a second left to upset Newark and win the district. Hunter finished with 24 points.
Hunter is very intruing to me because he is every bit of 6'7-6'8, he can shoot it from deep and he can rebound and block shots, he's really an ideal stretch four, despite his inconsistencies. But on Ohio State's end, I don't know if this is going to be a fit. I've heard from a few different people that once Ohio State took Darius Bazley that it was unlikely that Hunter would find his way into the class. This may be a mutual thing. On OSU's end, he's a very similar player to Bazley and I don't know how appealing it is on Jerome's end to join that situation. So it will be interesting to see how this ends up playing out, but again, I have been told by different people at different points in the last few weeks that they don't expect him to end up at OSU.
Jeremiah Francis - As tough of a day as it was for Goodwin, it may have been a tougher day for Francis who finished with just six points and a pair of assists in a Pickerington Central win over Dublin Coffman. Francis struggiled mightily with his jump shot, with everything seeming to come up short. He also had a few turnovers.
Watching Francis after watching Goodwin sort of illustrated the difference between a sophomore and a junior. While Goodwin gathered himself a bit at halftime and stopped taking bad shots, Francis' problems seemed to snowball on him. Like Goodwin, it's hard to hold one game against Francis who was very good earlier in the year against Gahanna.
I will have a story on Francis tomorrow, but he's looking to make a decision sometime around the fall, so I would expect him to commit to Ohio State before his junior season begins.
Dominiq Penn - All eyes were on the Penn/Francis point guard matchup on Saturday evening and Penn absolutely got the best of this one, scoring 24 points. Scoonie's kid is just a freshman but he can really play. He has tremendous quickness, to the point where I'd love to see him play cornerback, but that's just me always wanting to turn basketball players into football players.
His shot was definitely falling on Saturday as he was pulling up and hitting contested three's and he also showed an excellent ability to beat guys off the dribble, which is where I can really see him excelling as his game comes together and his confidence grows. But I was definitely impressed with his ability to get his shot off quickly.
He definitely exceeded my expectations coming in and he is already hearing from Ohio State and said he's getting very close with the staff. Would imagine he gets offered down the road.
One interesing thing I picked up yesterday was that it sounds like Francis and Penn are getting pretty close off the court and are already talking about playing together in college, likely at Ohio State.
Combine boost
Ohio State uses everything possible to get a boost or find an edge on the recruiting trail and one thing that has recently generated some buzz for them with recruits is the performance of their players at the NFL combine.
It seemed like just about every Ohio State prospect at the combine met, and in most cases exceeded, what was expected of them coming into the event. Guys were running faster and jumping higher than most experts were expecting and because of that, there was a lot of positive pub about the Buckeyes during the week of combine coverage.
That has not been lost on recruits who follow the NFL closely and enjoyed watching the combine coverage as they hope to be in that same position in a few years.
"All the guys in the combine for OSU did well and all excelled," observed four-star linebacker Dallas Gant. "Obviously a school like OSU prepares their guys to play in the NFL and to ball out in the NFL."
Five-star quarterback commit Emory Jones also noticed the great times that were being put up, though he wasn't surprised.
"I know all of those guys worked hard for that moment," Jones said. "OSU is an NFL factory."
Every little bit helps when it comes to recruiting, but some things more than others, and very few things do more for recruiting than sending guys to the NFL and showing that you are preparing them well for when that time arrives. Just about every major program has nice facilities and can provide a quality degree, but ultimately this is a business decision that revolves heavily around playing in the NFL. Anything that involves that goal that can be perceived by recruits as being superior to other programs is a legitimate edge.
This will be another thing that recruits take notice of when splitting hairs between elite programs around the nation and there is no question that Ohio State will be using this as recruits start flocking to campus on visits over the next few months.
Two Floridians who must visit
Two of the nation's very best from Florida recently trimmed their list and Ohio State found itself on both lists. Those two prospects are IMG Academy defensive tackle Taron Vincent and St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back Asante Samuel. Ironically, both look like they are basically Ohio State vs. Florida State battles, though Miami and Alabama are possible darkhorses for Samuel.
In speaking with sources close to OSU, there is a real need for both prospects to visit and to visit soon, but for different reasons.
With Vincent, confidence is still high. There is an acknowledgement that FSU may have closed the gap in recent months and the Noles' ability to land big-time prospects from just about anywhere in the nation is something that is being respected here. At the same time, the confidence is there that another visit this spring could close the deal for the Buckeyes and prevent any further momentum that FSU might have gained recently. The good news for OSU is that Vincent is set to visit during his spring break week so as long as that goes through, I expect a spring time commitment to favor the Buckeyes.
With Samuel, things are a bit more in desperation mode. I don't think there's any question that Florida State is strongly in the driver's seat for Asante, who has yet to make a visit to Ohio State. The feeling right now is that if he doesn't set something up soon, that a commitment to Florida State is almost a certainty on June 2nd.
Now Asante is a true Florida kid so maybe the Buckeyes could get him up later for an official visit to see his future teammates play in The Shoe, but that is not a position you want to be in. The track record historically on the guys who only make one visit is very low, they need to get that unofficial visit to try and turn the tide here, but right now it is definitely looking like Samuel is going to end up at FSU.
News and notes
- Ohio State's top tight end target Jeremy Ruckert made a pair of unofficial visits over the weekend to Wisconsin and Notre Dame. Wisconsin has been in Ruckert's top five while Notre Dame has not, though Ruckert has repeatedly said this visit could change that for the Fighting Irish. I've yet to speak in-depth with Jeremy coming out of the weekend and I've had Florida State has the darkhorse behind OSU because of his familiarity with the coaches and program, but just in picking the brains of a few contacts, it wouldn't surprise me if Notre Dame emerged in that darkhorse group as well for him. Still think the Buckeyes are in tremendous shape to land the four-star prospect, however.
- We've talked about super 2019 IMG Academy (Fla.) running back Noah Cain quite a bit in recent weeks as Cain was very excited to land an offer from Ohio State recently and has talked about trying to setup a visit. I traded a few texts with Noah today and the visit has been set for April 8th. Cain told me he wants to get a feel for the entire campus, but the most important thing will be how he relates and interacts with the coaches. This is a big visit for the Buckeyes as they have the cache here to be a contender. If the visit goes well, OSU can cement itself as a long term player for one of the nation's top class of 2019 prospects.
- I traded a few texts with five-star defensive end Micah Parsons' father this weekend who tells me another visit to Ohio State will "definitely happen" and will likely happen soon. The exact date is not set at this point but the goal is to visit for a spring practice or the spring game. There is no question that there is very serious interest on the part of the five-star defensive end when it comes to the Buckeyes and some of the commits, most notably Jaelen Gill, have really started to turn up the heat recently.
As I've said before, let's see where this one is at over the summer before you go and pencil in the flip here. Micah is having a lot of fun with the recruiting process and is actively looking at other programs, most notably Georgia where he could also make a return visit this spring or summer, so there's no rush here on either side of the isle. But there is no question that Ohio State continues to pick up some steam with Micah.
The OHSAA Central District Championships took place at Ohio Dominican on Saturday with several prospects of interest for the Buckeyes in the 2018-2020 classes.
Dane Goodwin - The class of 2018 Ohio State commit struggled to find his shot with just 10 points, a good chunk of those came at the free throw line but his Upper Arlington team advanced to the regionals with a win over Hilliard Bradley. Bradley made Goodwin the focal point defensively, getting up in his face with pressure but also running two guys at him when he would come off screens or handoffs. I'm used to seeing Goodwin drop 30 points in these types of games, as he did in both previous games I watched this season.
So this was definitely the poorest offensive game I've seen Dane play the past two years and he was visibly frustrated in the first half where I thought he was forcing some tough shots just to try and get going. In the second half, he took on more of a distributor role and UA was better off for it as they pulled away in the fourth quarter. Not going to hold this one against him too much as this was an outlier based on the previous handful of games I've seen, but it did highlight his need to improve his ball handling.
Obviously there is no recruiting news to report here. Goodwin is committed and is as solid as it gets.
Jerome Hunter - The class of 2018 Pickerington North forward looked like a McDonald's All-American in the first half with 20 points and then sort of floated around in the second half before fouling out with about a minute to go. His Pick North team did hit a three with less than a second left to upset Newark and win the district. Hunter finished with 24 points.
Hunter is very intruing to me because he is every bit of 6'7-6'8, he can shoot it from deep and he can rebound and block shots, he's really an ideal stretch four, despite his inconsistencies. But on Ohio State's end, I don't know if this is going to be a fit. I've heard from a few different people that once Ohio State took Darius Bazley that it was unlikely that Hunter would find his way into the class. This may be a mutual thing. On OSU's end, he's a very similar player to Bazley and I don't know how appealing it is on Jerome's end to join that situation. So it will be interesting to see how this ends up playing out, but again, I have been told by different people at different points in the last few weeks that they don't expect him to end up at OSU.
Jeremiah Francis - As tough of a day as it was for Goodwin, it may have been a tougher day for Francis who finished with just six points and a pair of assists in a Pickerington Central win over Dublin Coffman. Francis struggiled mightily with his jump shot, with everything seeming to come up short. He also had a few turnovers.
Watching Francis after watching Goodwin sort of illustrated the difference between a sophomore and a junior. While Goodwin gathered himself a bit at halftime and stopped taking bad shots, Francis' problems seemed to snowball on him. Like Goodwin, it's hard to hold one game against Francis who was very good earlier in the year against Gahanna.
I will have a story on Francis tomorrow, but he's looking to make a decision sometime around the fall, so I would expect him to commit to Ohio State before his junior season begins.
Dominiq Penn - All eyes were on the Penn/Francis point guard matchup on Saturday evening and Penn absolutely got the best of this one, scoring 24 points. Scoonie's kid is just a freshman but he can really play. He has tremendous quickness, to the point where I'd love to see him play cornerback, but that's just me always wanting to turn basketball players into football players.
His shot was definitely falling on Saturday as he was pulling up and hitting contested three's and he also showed an excellent ability to beat guys off the dribble, which is where I can really see him excelling as his game comes together and his confidence grows. But I was definitely impressed with his ability to get his shot off quickly.
He definitely exceeded my expectations coming in and he is already hearing from Ohio State and said he's getting very close with the staff. Would imagine he gets offered down the road.
One interesing thing I picked up yesterday was that it sounds like Francis and Penn are getting pretty close off the court and are already talking about playing together in college, likely at Ohio State.
Combine boost
Ohio State uses everything possible to get a boost or find an edge on the recruiting trail and one thing that has recently generated some buzz for them with recruits is the performance of their players at the NFL combine.
It seemed like just about every Ohio State prospect at the combine met, and in most cases exceeded, what was expected of them coming into the event. Guys were running faster and jumping higher than most experts were expecting and because of that, there was a lot of positive pub about the Buckeyes during the week of combine coverage.
That has not been lost on recruits who follow the NFL closely and enjoyed watching the combine coverage as they hope to be in that same position in a few years.
"All the guys in the combine for OSU did well and all excelled," observed four-star linebacker Dallas Gant. "Obviously a school like OSU prepares their guys to play in the NFL and to ball out in the NFL."
Five-star quarterback commit Emory Jones also noticed the great times that were being put up, though he wasn't surprised.
"I know all of those guys worked hard for that moment," Jones said. "OSU is an NFL factory."
Every little bit helps when it comes to recruiting, but some things more than others, and very few things do more for recruiting than sending guys to the NFL and showing that you are preparing them well for when that time arrives. Just about every major program has nice facilities and can provide a quality degree, but ultimately this is a business decision that revolves heavily around playing in the NFL. Anything that involves that goal that can be perceived by recruits as being superior to other programs is a legitimate edge.
This will be another thing that recruits take notice of when splitting hairs between elite programs around the nation and there is no question that Ohio State will be using this as recruits start flocking to campus on visits over the next few months.
Two Floridians who must visit
Two of the nation's very best from Florida recently trimmed their list and Ohio State found itself on both lists. Those two prospects are IMG Academy defensive tackle Taron Vincent and St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back Asante Samuel. Ironically, both look like they are basically Ohio State vs. Florida State battles, though Miami and Alabama are possible darkhorses for Samuel.
In speaking with sources close to OSU, there is a real need for both prospects to visit and to visit soon, but for different reasons.
With Vincent, confidence is still high. There is an acknowledgement that FSU may have closed the gap in recent months and the Noles' ability to land big-time prospects from just about anywhere in the nation is something that is being respected here. At the same time, the confidence is there that another visit this spring could close the deal for the Buckeyes and prevent any further momentum that FSU might have gained recently. The good news for OSU is that Vincent is set to visit during his spring break week so as long as that goes through, I expect a spring time commitment to favor the Buckeyes.
With Samuel, things are a bit more in desperation mode. I don't think there's any question that Florida State is strongly in the driver's seat for Asante, who has yet to make a visit to Ohio State. The feeling right now is that if he doesn't set something up soon, that a commitment to Florida State is almost a certainty on June 2nd.
Now Asante is a true Florida kid so maybe the Buckeyes could get him up later for an official visit to see his future teammates play in The Shoe, but that is not a position you want to be in. The track record historically on the guys who only make one visit is very low, they need to get that unofficial visit to try and turn the tide here, but right now it is definitely looking like Samuel is going to end up at FSU.
News and notes
- Ohio State's top tight end target Jeremy Ruckert made a pair of unofficial visits over the weekend to Wisconsin and Notre Dame. Wisconsin has been in Ruckert's top five while Notre Dame has not, though Ruckert has repeatedly said this visit could change that for the Fighting Irish. I've yet to speak in-depth with Jeremy coming out of the weekend and I've had Florida State has the darkhorse behind OSU because of his familiarity with the coaches and program, but just in picking the brains of a few contacts, it wouldn't surprise me if Notre Dame emerged in that darkhorse group as well for him. Still think the Buckeyes are in tremendous shape to land the four-star prospect, however.
- We've talked about super 2019 IMG Academy (Fla.) running back Noah Cain quite a bit in recent weeks as Cain was very excited to land an offer from Ohio State recently and has talked about trying to setup a visit. I traded a few texts with Noah today and the visit has been set for April 8th. Cain told me he wants to get a feel for the entire campus, but the most important thing will be how he relates and interacts with the coaches. This is a big visit for the Buckeyes as they have the cache here to be a contender. If the visit goes well, OSU can cement itself as a long term player for one of the nation's top class of 2019 prospects.
- I traded a few texts with five-star defensive end Micah Parsons' father this weekend who tells me another visit to Ohio State will "definitely happen" and will likely happen soon. The exact date is not set at this point but the goal is to visit for a spring practice or the spring game. There is no question that there is very serious interest on the part of the five-star defensive end when it comes to the Buckeyes and some of the commits, most notably Jaelen Gill, have really started to turn up the heat recently.
As I've said before, let's see where this one is at over the summer before you go and pencil in the flip here. Micah is having a lot of fun with the recruiting process and is actively looking at other programs, most notably Georgia where he could also make a return visit this spring or summer, so there's no rush here on either side of the isle. But there is no question that Ohio State continues to pick up some steam with Micah.
