When Chris Holtmann took the job at Ohio State in June of 2017, it was obvious that the Buckeyes had depth issues at multiple positions and that in-state recruiting had become an issue.
Less than a year later, Holtmann has provided answers to the plethora of question marks that followed his arrival in Columbus, including perhaps the most crucial one: Could Ohio State reclaim its dominance in recruiting in-state talent?
Alonzo Gaffney, the top-rated player in the state of Ohio for the 2019 cycle, announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday, just two days after the Buckeyes landed Florida State transfer CJ Walker. While neither will be able to play for Ohio State next season, the big week certainly sets up OSU for sustained success in the near future. However, Ohio State’s recruiting success in the Holtmann era has not come easily.
Speaking to the media Tuesday, Holtmann said he has always hit the recruiting trail hard, but perhaps not as hard as he has since the Buckeyes fell to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament less than a month ago.
"We need to add one or two more experienced players and then obviously we need to continue to move forward in the 2019 and 2020 classes," Holtmann said. "You're always busy. My wife said to me the other day, and I think she has said it every offseason, but she said, 'I don't know that I have ever seen you this consumed and busy with recruiting,' in terms of phone calls when you're at home at night, and the travel, but we expected that."
Landing Gaffney's commitment makes it easy to overlook some of the work Holtmann and his staff have already done since coming to Columbus in mid-June. The Buckeye coaching staff put together a four-player 2018 class that ranks in the top-25 in the country, while also adding three players to the 2017 class (Musa Jallow, Kyle Young, grad transfer Andrew Dakich) in a matter of months to contribute immediately to a team that went on to finish second in the Big Ten.
Holtmann has said repeatedly that Ohio State's on-court success in 2017-18 slightly surprised him, but he said Tuesday that the successes the Buckeyes have had in recruiting were expected.
"We really felt like when we got here, just give us some time to build relationships. We didn't have a whole lot of that with the Ohio 2018 class in particular. I do feel like I had a lot of faith in (assistant coaches) Ryan (Pedon), Mike (Schrage) and Terry (Johnson) and how diligent they were going to be in their efforts," Holtmann said. "You never know if it's going to look like this, but I did have confidence that our staff could have some success, and we will see if we can continue to have some success in 2019."
Pedon specifically seems to have struck a chord with recruits and high school coaches. Gaffney, speaking on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus on Tuesday, mentioned Pedon by name when asked about his recruitment to Ohio State, and his high school coach Sonny Johnson went as far as to call Pedon one of the best recruiters in the country, via his Twitter page.
OHIO STATE assistant BASKETBALL COACH @ryanpedon is one of the BEST RECRUITERS & COACHES in the country . Congratulations coach. pic.twitter.com/JR9qfL8d2d
— Sonny Johnson (@sonnyjohnson32) April 10, 2018
Even though Ohio State's coaching staff has had a remarkable three-day stretch in gaining commits from Gaffney and Walker, the Buckeyes are still looking to add a graduate transfer point guard to contribute immediately next season.
Holtmann said the Buckeyes have a few visits lined up in the coming days with prospects (he is not allowed to mention names), and added that recruiting graduate transfers is even more stressful than pursuing high school prospects, only adding to his already busy offseason.
"It's a more extreme version of recruiting. Smaller timeline. A guy becomes available, and you are flying out to see him the next day once you get his release," Holtmann said. "You are at 10 right away on a scale of 1-to-10. You are in hot pursuit and it is very competitive. I don't know that every year we will recruit a fifth-year (player), but it seems like everybody in the country is this time of year.
"We are doing OK. We have a couple visits here in the next week-and-a-half that we are excited about."
A coach's job on the recruiting trail is never done, but Holtmann and his staff are certainly on the right track with their extra effort wearing the scarlet and gray.
