Today's media day marks a transition point for the Ohio State basketball program. With many young players entering the program or tasked with taking on a larger role, memories of last year's Ohio State basketball season are fading away.
It's tough to sell recruits on what transpired during the 2013-14 campaign, but the four and five-star talent keep rolling onto campus. Thad Matta can sell the talent-rich potential of a long-term core with Marc Loving, Trevor Thompson, Kam Williams, D'Angelo Russell, Keita Bates-Diop, Jae'Sean Tate and Dave Bell, plus the 2015 commits. It also means few, available scholarships with a struggle for playing time, but aggressive competition on what should be a winning team.
Ohio State's staff is trying to build on that with a strong 2016 class, and hosted a pair of highly-rated high school junior recruits, Saturday.
The Buckeyes have tracked Braxton Blackwell, pictured above, since the spring. Matta attended an open gym at Blackwell's high school in April, which led to an eventual offer. The August scholarship offer opened the possibility of an unofficial visit, which Blackwell took, Saturday:
Had a great visit up at H I state! Coach Matta and his staff were awesome!! And the fans were http://t.co/IlIlRVAQU8
— braxton blackwell (@btwice_11) September 29, 2014
It was his first unofficial visit to Ohio State and only his second, overall, in 2014. He took a short trip to Vanderbilt in February and also visited Auburn, Indiana and Memphis last fall. Blackwell has not announced any further visits but Kansas watched him practice this morning.
The Jayhawks are also after another recent Buckeye visitor. Members of the KU staff watched Kobi Simmons, according to multiple reports. Like Kansas, Ohio State might hope Simmons and Blackwell team up in college, just like they have for the Atlanta Celtics' AAU team.
While in Columbus, Simmons also attended Saturday's football game against Cincinnati:
Had a great time at THE OHIO STATE ! crazy atmosphere and ALOT MORE ! Had an amazing visit ! http://t.co/m8kFDMJkGX
— Law&Order (@JordanKobi) September 28, 2014
Simmons' father, Demond Stephens, told Scout.com about the OSU staff's plan for Simmons if he ends up in Scarlet and Gray. According to the staff, the high-potential, veteran talent on the squad in two years' time should not affect Simmons' decision.
"They said they need him to come in and make an impact immediately like a Michael Conley or someone like that," Stephens told Scout.com. "They made it clear that they don’t care who is a freshman or who is a senior, they want to let the best players play."
The next family trip will be to Missouri, a school which also offered Simmons over the summer.
On the Road Again
While the Buckeye staff should feel comfortable focusing on 2016, they're not forgetting about their highly-touted 2015 class. Part of a coach's job, in any sport, is to retain the current commits and maintain a presence during the tail end of their high school careers.
Such is the case for the dead-eye shooter from Texas. Austin Grandstaff is an active recruiter for Ohio State and remained firmly committed during Mickey Mitchell's temporary decommitment, but he still enjoys when Matta stops by his high school:
got Coach Matta coming tomorrow #O-H
— Austin Grandstaff (@AustinGstaff1) October 1, 2014
Meanwhile, Matta and the rest of the staff scattered throughout the country. Assistant Greg Paulus got a jump on the 2018 class by watching forward Brandon Johns (East Lansing, Michigan). Much farther south, the Buckeyes also saw 2017 prospect Terrell Turner (Miami).
The most notable scouting effort of the past week was in Minnesota, where OSU watched Gary Trent Jr. His father, a.k.a. "The Shaq of the MAC," played at Ohio University with Buckeye assistant Jeff Boals. He was on hand, last week, to watch his former teammate's son (via Courtside Films):
