Dane Goodwin received an offer before his high school career even began, but he already knows he wants to stay in the Columbus area for the next eight years of his life.
The Upper Arlington freshman announced his commitment to play for Ohio State in 2018, according to his Twitter account:
Honored to accept an offer from Coach Matta and OSU staff, I have committed to play basketball at THE Ohio State University! #BuckeyeNation
— Dane Goodwin (@danegoodwin23) December 1, 2014
Ohio State assistant Jeff Boals, who typically acknowledges these awkward recruiting predicaments with a "boom" tweet, confirmed Goodwin's commitment two hours after he announced.
Like many Buckeye players before him, Goodwin's family has basketball roots. His father, Damon Goodwin, is the head coach at Capital University, played for Dayton from 1982-1985 and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns.
Dane is currently listed at 6-feet, 4-inches tall, but his high school coach expects him to grow, at least, another two inches.
"He's a baby, he's still a young kid and he looks like he's 14, but if you project him out four years from now, he could be about 6-6, 6-7, long and strong," Upper Arlington head coach Tim Casey told Eleven Warriors, in November. "If he continues to improve athletically, he's going to be scary."
The Goodwin File
- Size: 6-4/170
- Position: G
- Class: 2018
- School: Upper Arlington (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
- Composite: N/A
- Rank: N/A
To this point, Goodwin's team played six scrimmages and its first regular season game is Friday. In Sunday's scrimmage against Archbishop Alter (Kettering, Ohio), Goodwin scored 16 points and recorded two steals. He led the Golden Bears with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists in their previous scrimmage with Westerville South.
Casey believes his freshman guard is capable of handling the pressure of being a team leader, even though he has yet to play in a regular season varsity game.
"The big thing with him is he seems mature beyond his years," Casey said. "People have to understand he's going to play really well at times and, other times, he'll be a bit overwhelmed – physically, he'll get worn down from the rigors of a long, varsity season.
"I'm excited for him to continue to invest, improve and mature like I think he's going to. He can be special over the next four years and has the chance to be really good."
