When Daniel Giddens spoke about bringing a national championship to Ohio State, he did so with the utmost confidence in himself and his classmates – Austin Grandstaff, A.J. Harris and Mickey Mitchell.
Recent all-American snubs make the group of future Buckeyes even more motivated to fulfill that title goal. At this time, none of the four signees will participate in the McDonald's All American Game after rosters were announced yesterday.
Grandstaff, who recently returned from a strained MCL and did his best Kyrie Irving impression, had this to say after him, his current and future teammates were left off the All-American rosters:
prove em wrong, been doing it my whole life, let's get it
— Austin Grandstaff (@AustinGstaff1) January 29, 2015
Two Ohioans – Duke signee Luke Kennard (Franklin) and Kansas commit Carlton Bragg (VASJ) – made the squad, but left no room for Dayton Dunbar's Harris. Former OSU targets and names that might sound familiar to fans include Giddens' high school teammate Dwayne Bacon (Oak Hill), Giddens' former high school teammate Jaylen Brown (Wheeler) and No. 1 recruit Ben Simmons (Montverde). The only Big Ten signee voted in is Michigan State's Deyonta Davis (Muskegon).
Visit Canceled
In an early-January USA Today blog post, McDonald's All-American guard Malik Newman directly referenced his intention to visit Ohio State. With no reported official visits, it would've been his first.
"Right now I’m taking a visit to Ohio State on January 24-26. That’s the only visit that has a date attached to it, but I’ll also be visiting N.C. State, Kentucky and Kansas," he wrote. "I don’t know about the dates right now on those. I haven’t cut my list or anything and that doesn’t mean those schools are my top four or anything like that; they’re just the schools that I’m going to visit for now."
When the weekend finally arrived, Newman remained in his home state of Mississippi, instead:
Contrary to what's been reported, Malik Newman is not on an official at Ohio State this wknd. He's expected in Oxford for Ole Miss-UF today.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) January 24, 2015
Lyle in Columbus
JaQuan Lyle's recruitment is a bit unorthodox, but it might prove to be to the Buckeyes' advantage.
Lyle, offered by Indiana before playing in a high school game, was originally a Louisville commit in the class of 2014. He flipped to Oregon and signed with the Ducks last April, but was denied admission to the program before the start of the season due to academic issues. So, Lyle enrolled at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
While he's still considering the Ducks, as well as Missouri and LSU, Lyle is currently on an official visit to Ohio State. The four-star guard will reportedly stay on campus for tonight's OSU-Maryland game after arriving in Central Ohio Wednesday morning.
Thad Matta and assistant Dave Dickerson recently watched Lyle, causing Matta to tell IMG coach John Mahoney that Lyle "could be special."
The Buckeyes could use some backcourt depth if – more likely "when" – D'Angelo Russell declares for this year's NBA Draft. OSU is in need of another lead guard, as 2015 signees Harris and Mitchell are the only two options at the point.
If anything, Lyle is certainly capable of creating shots for himself:
Buckeyes offer Ward
After months of scouting and an unofficial visit in October, Nick Ward finally received an offer from Ohio State.
The Gahanna Lincoln product tweeted about his offer, Monday:
I just got offered to the ohio state university thank God
— Nick ward (@best_at_hoopin) January 27, 2015
Ward is a composite four-star and the third uncommitted Ohio recruit in the class of 2016 to receive an offer from the Buckeyes, joining Seth Towns (Northland) and Derek Funderburk (St. Edward).
According to ESPN.com's scouting report, Ward's best attribute is his 6-foot-9-inch, 235 pound frame.
"Ward is a wide-bodied lefty big inside the lane. He's got a naturally broad build with a thick upper body but also long arms (seven-foot wingspan)," the scouting report said. "He's powerful, able to create space, and has a soft touch around the rim. He's also fairly crafty with little floaters and reverse lay-ups."
