After short consideration, The Ohio State University is the only place for me, staff & players are family. Can't wait to get back! GO BUCKS!
— SOMI JaMITCHELL (@MickeyMitchell0) September 12, 2014
Just like that, Mickey Mitchell is back in the Ohio State 2015 recruiting class.
Mitchell, a four-star forward, originally committed to Ohio State just over a year ago. Surprisingly, months after reconfirming his commitment in the wake of his brother Mike's departure from Ohio State's football team, Mickey decided to reopen his recruitment.
After that, the movement you'd expect from a recently re-opened player didn't happen. In fact, Mitchell made only one visit: to Ohio State, last weekend, with his good friend, fellow Texan and once-again future teammate Austin Grandstaff. Tonight, he's a Buckeye again much to the surprise of well, everyone.
This is a bit of good news in the wake of two Cleveland-area recruits spurning the Buckeyes. Five-star forward Carlton Bragg (VASJ) left them out of his top five and four-star forward Esa Ahmad (Shaker Heights) committed to West Virginia over OSU.
With Mitchell's re-commitment, Ohio State, again, has four members in their 2015 class – Mitchell, Grandstaff, center Daniel Giddens and point guard A.J. Harris.
"It feels great to have Mickey back," Grandstaff said in a text to Eleven Warriors. "We need him in our class."
Harris, the jitterbug point guard from Dayton Dunbar agreed.
"It's really an honor to have him back," Harris said. "He's a great player and we need him."
Assistant coach Jeff Boals confirmed the re-commitment with the usual, Buckeye cryptic way:
BOOM!!!! #GoBucks
— Jeff Boals (@JeffBoals) September 12, 2014
"It's a blessing for our class," Giddens told Eleven Warriors. "But we know once you're a Buckeye there's no going back."
Mitchell tore his ACL while playing football, prior to his sophomore basketball season. However, he returned for his junior year at Plano West, played AAU this summer – averaging six points, five rebounds and 4.6 assists per game – and put together a highlight reel similar to the one before his injury:
