Between Mickey Mitchell's recent state-title run and Daniel Giddens' potential to win an amateur "national title," OSU's 2015 class is already setting a high standard. Classmate A.J. Harris has a chance to add to the trophy case.
The OHSAA boys basketball final four is set across all four divisions, with Division-IV games taking place today at Value City Arena – Harvest Prep and Tri-Village already won and will meet in the finals, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Harris and Dayton Dunbar will take the floor, Friday at 2 p.m., against the Associated Press' No. 5 ranked school, Defiance.
Dunbar's road to Columbus wasn't easy, advancing this far after an overtime victory against Duke signee Luke Kennard and Franklin. Harris' squad survived a scoring onslaught from Kennard, who dropped 41 points. The future Buckeye had 23 points, nine assists, four rebounds and the highlights were captured by NextUpRecruits.com:
With a win, Dunbar would play the winner of Cleveland Central Catholic and Columbus Walnut Ridge. CCC, led by wing Tervell Beck, upset top-ranked St. Vincent-St. Mary in the regional finals. Walnut Ridge knocked off undefeated and No. 2 ranked New Concord John Glenn in their regional final matchup.
If Dunbar can make it through the final four unscathed, Harris would have his second state title in his career. The Wolverines won a championship on a last-second layup in 2012, when Harris was a freshman starter.
Meanwhile, the No. 1 team in Division III is still alive and the presumptive favorite to win it all. Cleveland's Villa-Angela St. Joseph will try to avenge last year's championship game loss when it begins its title quest tonight. Kansas commit Carlton Bragg, Northwestern commit Derek Pardon and VASJ take on Columbus' Eastmoor Academy, while the winner will play Lima Central Catholic or Dayton's Chaminade Julienne.
Naturally, the state's Division I finals feature several highly-touted college prospects. St. Edward is looking to repeat as state champs, once again led by Buckeye target Derek Funderburk and D-1 player of the year Kipper Nichols. Eds' first matchup will be against No. 8 ranked Huber Heights Wayne and Iowa commit Ahmad Wagner.
St. Eds or Wayne will take on the winner of Garfield Heights and Westerville South. Garfield's Willie Jackson, targeted by Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, is the only high-major prospect in his matchup against Westerville South. Despite South's lack of elite college prospects, it is the AP's No. 5 ranked team. The Wildcats also defeated the talented Delaware Hayes and Northland squads in the playoffs.
The Division I state semifinals begin Friday at 5:15 p.m., and the championship game is Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Around The B1G
Two major Big Ten recruiting tidbits from the past two weeks:
- Christian Williams (Decatur, Illinois) committed to Iowa. The St. Teresa's product is a three-star recruit on Scout.com and the Hawkeyes were the only high-major program to offer him. St. Teresa's head coach compared him to Roy Devyn Marble, according to HawkeyeReport.com.
- Former four-star prospect Stanford Robinson is transferring from Indiana. Under Crean's watch, 13 players have transferred from the Hoosiers' program – though none went on to do anything particularly notable. Even with Robinson transferring, IU still needs to clear one scholarship for next season if their two 2015 commits enroll.
