FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Ohio State’s 2018 recruiting class — which got off to a tremendous start — took a bit of a hit recently when four-star prospect Darius Bazley announced his decommitment. Bazley said he felt he committed to the Buckeyes too soon in the process and then in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Princeton star didn’t hold back when talking about the state of the program.
Bazley’s decision — and his words — don’t seem to be impacting Ohio State’s other two pledges in the 2018 class, however. Dane Goodwin and Justin Ahrens, who both participated at the Spiece Run N Slam this weekend, each said they remain committed to the Buckeyes and don’t have any intentions on wavering.
“Yep,” Goodwin said. “I’m 100 percent.”
“I’m still firmly committed,” Ahrens added. “Both me and Dane are.”
The goal for the two this spring and summer while on the AAU circuit? To find the next player — or two or three — to join them both at Ohio State.
“We’re still excited for the future and we’re excited to change the program,” Ahrens said. “We’re really buying into what we can do and we’re talking about who else we can look at and who else we can help recruit hard for the Ohio State coaches. We want guys who can help us win Big Ten championships, national championships, make it to the Final Four and stuff like that.”
Thad Matta’s program hit a bit of a rough patch as it has missed the NCAA tournament each of the last two years. The Buckeyes were just 17–15 a year ago and it was the first time in Matta’s coaching career he failed to reach the 20-win mark.
Ohio State has two players signed who will be in uniform next season in Kaleb Wesson and Braxton Beverly and now Goodwin and Ahrens are taking the lead in recruiting players to join them in the 2018 class. That group figures to have four or five players in it when it’s all said and done.
“I think me and Justin both have the same thing in mind and that’s to try and come in and turn the program around when we get there,” Goodwin said. “The last couple years definitely haven’t been as good as Coach Matta has had and I know he wants to get back to that point too and I think it’s possible. We’ve got a lot of talent in the state and around the country that can come so I think we’re going to work toward that and try to get it back together.”
The Buckeyes have plenty of targets in 2018 including four-star prospects Dwayne Cohill and Jerome Hunter. Another Ohio product, Pete Nance, is on Ohio State’s radar and both Goodwin and Ahrens said they’ve also been talking to Toledo St. John’s wing Vincent Williams. Williams plays with Goodwin for All-Ohio Red on the AAU circuit.
There are others, too, from outside the state of Ohio, but there’s no doubt the Buckeyes would like to keep things in-state if they can even if Bazley doesn’t come back into the fold.
Ahrens and Goodwin, both firmly committed, are doing their best to lead the charge.
“We’ve definitely been talking about it,” Goodwin said. “I’m trying to get in touch with a couple guys this spring and it’s going to be fun to see who we can get to come to Ohio State.”
“We text every week, probably three days a week just to keep up to date with each other and see where he’s playing at on weekends and stuff,” Ahrens added. “We just see like what recruits we should be talking to and just see how each other are doing. We talk quite a bit.”
