Between the facilities, the success in its conference and annual appearances in the NCAA Tournament, Ohio State established itself as one of the top basketball schools in the country under Thad Matta.
The Buckeyes are in the upper echelon of college hoops programs which means they're competing with the likes of the "blue bloods" for recruits. This isn't the case for every single recruit, otherwise OSU would be in significant trouble trying to build its roster. Matta consistently chases the nation's top talent, though, so it's an issue that arises every year.
Five-star guard Kobi Simmons just completed a visit to Columbus and Ohio State is among his final four schools. Not to dismiss Georgia or, particularly, UNLV, but the biggest threat in this scenario is Kentucky. John Calipari tends to get what he wants. Simmons may end up a Runnin' Rebel – recent predictions are trending their way – but, for the sake of this discussion, we'll focus on Matta's attempts to compete with Calipari.
In that area, he hasn't been successful. Few have. Since Calipari arrived at UK in 2009, Matta offered six scholarships to players who eventually ended up in Lexington. Using data compiled by 247Sports, Ohio State offered Anthony Davis, James Young, Julius Randle, Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe and Charles Matthews. OSU stopped pursuing most of them once the staff felt more comfortable going in another direction.
The most talented player of those six might have been the closest to wearing Scarlet and Gray. Davis visited Columbus before Kentucky and had the Buckeyes on his final list, along with UK, DePaul and Syracuse.
In contrast, Kentucky heavily pursued only one eventual OSU commit. You guessed it – Amir Williams.
"It's looking like [Calipari] is getting 'bigs' in the pros. So it's looking good for him," Williams told the Lexington Herald-Leader in 2010. "That's real important. I want to go to a school that will use their 'bigs,' develop their 'bigs' and put them in the pros."
The Wildcats' 2011 class included Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer. That 2011-12 team went on to win the national championship and is the most dominant college team I've seen in person. Safe to say: They didn't need Amir Williams.
Recapping Simmons' Visit
Kobi Simmons' father, Demond Stephens, made the media rounds this week. He – nor anyone close to Simmons – did not respond to interview requests from Eleven Warriors.
In multiple other interviews, Stephens supported the quotes of many who visited Ohio State. The parents of Dane Goodwin and Austin Grandstaff praised the family atmosphere surrounding the team.
Stephens did the same, speaking on the numerous players who returned to campus to work out. That includes Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell, pictured with Simmons at the top of this article.
"I’ve been coaching and mentoring children for 18 years, and I always tell Kobi, one thing that is more valuable than where somebody goes and how successful they are is do they call you back for their marriage, their college graduation? After they’ve gone on, do they still even talk to you?" - Demond Stephens, via Cleveland.com
Stephens also told Scout.com Simmons would make his decision by November, which marks the beginning of St. Francis' (Alpharetta, Georgia) basketball season. He does not have a strict timetable, contrary to the reports he'll definitely decide this week or by the end of September. Although the feeling is that he will make a decision within the month.
If you missed Birm's Hurry-Up from Monday, he spoke to someone close to the basketball program about Simmons' visit.
"(We) felt good about (the weekend)," the source shared with 11W. "He had a great visit. I think he will probably decide sometime later this week or early next week."
