Welcome to the Full Court Press, your weekly destination for offseason Ohio State basketball recruiting updates.
The Buckeyes landed their graduate transfer point guard for the 2018-19 season when Wake Forest transfer Keyshawn Woods announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday evening, meaning its roster for Chris Holtmann's second season should be complete.
Holtmann, who initially hinted that Ohio State could be in the market for a pair of graduate transfers said last week that the Buckeyes were likely to stick with just one heading into 2018-19.
With that being the case, the Buckeyes appear to have turned their attention to the future, but not before expressing their excitement for landing Woods, who figures to make an immediate impact in Columbus.
Assistant coach Terry Johnson:
Lets Go Bucks! #BOOM pic.twitter.com/4nGR77kDSf
— Terry Johnson (@CoachTLJohnson) April 25, 2018
Assistant coach Ryan Pedon:
WHAAAAABOOM.........O-H!!
— Ryan Pedon (@ryanpedon) April 25, 2018
The addition of Woods meant Ohio State cancelled its scheduled visit with Samford's Christen Cunningham, which was set for April 25-27, according to Cleveland.com. Cunningham was visiting Oregon State when Woods announced his commitment, and many believe the Beavers are now the favorites to land his services.
Elite Matchup
Despite landing Woods and officially announcing the arrival of Florida State transfer C.J. Walker, Ohio State is still feverishly pursuing a point guard in the 2019 class, and for good reason.
The Buckeyes will lose both Woods and C.J. Jackson following the upcoming season, and will need to add at least one more guard being Walker, if not more.
Two of Ohio State's top guard targets in the 2019 class went head-to-head this week in the NY2LASports Lone Star Invitational in Mansfield, Texas, and Holtmann was reportedly in attendance.
DJ Carton and Harlond Beverly battled it out at the Invitational, with Beverly's Reach Legends squad coming away with a victory. Carton excelled despite the loss, however, scoring 25 points. A four-star guard in the 2019 class, Carton is rated as the No. 34 overall player in the country and holds offers from a plethora of schools including Ohio State, which offered him Dec. 19. He also took an unofficial visit to Columbus on April 12, right around the same time as Woods.
Carton has shown impressive ability to not only pass the ball, but also finish at the rim among traffic. At 6-foot-1, Carton already has good size, weighing around 180 pounds, according to 247Sports.
An Iowa native, Carton holds offers from Creighton, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Marquette, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Iowa State in addition to the Buckeyes.
Beverly also played well in the showcase event, scoring 15 points and dishing out seven assists, according to 247Sports. Ohio State has already made the trip to visit Beverly twice since the 2017-18 season ended, and it is believed he is near the top of the Buckeyes' board.
It wasn't just Holtmann that was in attendance in the Lone Star State for the showdown between the guards, however, as Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Scott Drew (Baylor), John Beilein (Michigan), Steve Prohm (Iowa State), Fran McCaffery (Iowa) and Mike Rhodes (VCU) were also reportedly in attendance.
Additional Backcourt Talent
According to reports, Ohio State is set to watch 2019 combo guard Armaan Franklin at the Nike Mean Streets event in Chicago this weekend. An Indianapolis native, Franklin is a four-star combo guard and the No. 97 player in his class, according to 247Sports.
He was offered by Ohio State's staff during an unofficial visit on Jan. 7, the same day the Buckeyes upset No. 1-ranked Michigan State. Franklin holds offers from a number of premier programs, including Butler, Purdue, Louisville and Indiana, among others.
Ohio State was also reportedly in to watch three-star guard Tyrell Terry last weekend, along with a number of other programs.
Indiana, Xavier, Iowa State, Butler, Colorado State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Iowa, Nebraska, Yale, Stanford were among those to watch 2019 Tyrell Terry this weekend.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) April 24, 2018
Terry does not yet hold an offer from the Buckeyes, but seems to be trending up. In the last 10 days, the Minneapolis native has picked up offers from both Minnesota and Xavier. He also holds offers from Baylor, Butler, Drake and Iowa amongst others.
