Members of the 2015 recruiting class have openly discussed winning a national title at Ohio State, but one future Buckeye earned some hardware before arriving in Columbus.
Mickey Mitchell and his Plano West squad had a pair of close calls throughout the Texas state tournament, including a near early exit. Over two weeks ago, the Wolves avoided an upset after Mitchell's put-back deuce off a missed free throw.
They rolled through their next two games, winning by a combined 47 points. That allowed them to reach the state's Final Four, as expected coming off a 33-2 regular season.
Plano West's first matchup was against MacArthur and turned out to be a non-contest. The Wolves jumped out to a 21-7 first quarter lead and ended up winning, 78-69. Mitchell popped off, scoring 18 points on only 10 shots. He also dished out seven assists and grabbed eight rebounds.
Texas' 6A State Title Game featured Plano West and Clear Lake. Although the Wolves are significantly higher in the state basketball rankings, they played in another tight contest. Plano West rallied from six points down in the final quarter and took a 52-50 lead with 2:08 left, thanks to a Mitchell outlet pass – he ended the game with 10 assists.
The game was tied with 11.9 seconds left, which set up this play from Texas A&M signee D.J. Hogg:
Giddens' Squad Invited to Dick's Nationals
Oak Hill Academy doesn't need another national tournament to prove the program has a championship pedigree. The school was invited to one, anyway.
Daniel Giddens and Oak Hill will compete in the Dick's Nationals Tournament, held April 2-4 and televised on ESPN. The No. 1 team in USA Today's Super 25 rankings will compete against seven other schools for the "national championship" of high school basketball.
Unfortunately, several schools are ineligible to compete in this tournament due to their respective state high school sports governing bodies. St. Vincent-St. Mary is No. 3 in USA Today's rankings, but the OHSAA will not let them compete in a tournament following the state playoffs.
SVSM earned the right, as the only school outside of USA Today's top eight not in the tournament, and the kids deserve it. It's certainly not an issue of funding the trip – if it is, I know a famous alum who can handle that. So, what gives?
Harris V. Kennard
The Ohio high school playoffs are winding down and A.J. Harris' Dunbar squad is still alive.
Dunbar took down Columbus South on Thursday, to reach the regional finals. Their next opponent? The state's No. 2 squad, Franklin, led by Duke signee Luke Kennard. UD Arena might be even more rowdy than it was for Dayton's First Four matchup.
The game will take place Saturday at 3 p.m., and maybe some Buckeye fans will show up to support Harris. Dunbar will need it because this was the line for Franklin's previous game in Dayton:
Here's a look at the line waiting to get into UD Arena. Lots of Franklin fans. pic.twitter.com/eMRca6X2fe
— James Rider (@JamesR2245) March 19, 2015
Moyer Reaffirms Commitment
Two weeks ago, Matthew Moyer learned his scholarship would be honored despite Syracuse's future roster restrictions. As a result, he remained committed to the Orange.
This week, the school announced – for some reason – Jim Boeheim will retire in three years and, naturally, some presumed it might affect Moyer's commitment. Again, it will not:
Lone Class of 2016 men's basketball recruit Matthew Moyer (@matthewmoyer13) tells me Boeheim's planned retirement doesn't affect commitment.
— Matt Schneidman (@matt_schneidman) March 18, 2015
If he does end up decommitting at some point, it would take some mending of fences – on both sides – if Ohio State wants to pursue the Gahanna Lincoln junior. After all, Moyer's father infamously ripped the OSU staff in the media and the Buckeyes' interest in Moyer was tepid leading up to his commitment to Syracuse.
Meanwhile, Gahanna Lincoln was eliminated from the state tournament after Northland completed an incredible comeback led by Ohio State target Seth Towns.
