Ohio State’s recruiting classes through 2017 are full, but that doesn’t mean head coach Thad Matta and his staff are done recruiting, especially during the month of July when AAU events ramp up and evaluation periods are allowed.
There are three five-day evaluation periods in the month of July. The first comes July 8-12, the second is July 15-19 and the third is July 22-26. Coaches travel across the country going to various events to scout potential players they want to bring into their program.
“I’m going to Atlanta, to Charlotte, to Augusta (Ga.), and may have to go to Indy or Chicago,” Matta recently told the Columbus Dispatch’s Todd Jones about his early July travel plans.
THAD MATTA IS HERE pic.twitter.com/yC6IjeNA8p
— Stefan. ® (@StefanDLG) July 9, 2015
The Buckeyes already have two commitments in their 2016 class in four-star forward Derek Funderburk and three-star big man Micah Potter. That gives Ohio State the full 13 allotted scholarships for the 2016-17 season. And because Marc Loving is the only scholarship player for the Buckeyes in the junior class, Ohio State only has one scholarship currently available to give in the 2017 class. That was recently snatched up by four-star big man Kaleb Wesson.
So, as it stands, the Buckeyes are out of scholarships for the next two recruiting classes. But things for college coaches never stop. Players in their program can transfer and players can declare early for the NBA Draft. Head coaches always need to be prepared for these situations and keep developing relationships with the high school players in the event an extra scholarship opens up.
That’s why the Buckeyes have been strongly tied to the recruitment of five-star guard Kobi Simmons in the 2016 class, as well as five-star guard Gary Trent Jr. in the 2017 group.
Each of the past four years, Ohio State has had a player turn professional before his eligibility had been used: Jared Sullinger in 2012, Deshaun Thomas in 2013, LaQuinton Ross in 2014 and, most recently, D’Angelo Russell in 2015.
Matta and his staff always likes to be prepared because, well, they need to be.
“There isn’t a school in the Big Ten that has been hit by departures the way we have,” Matta told the Dispatch.
But the difficulties in college coaching come with striking a balance between recruiting and developing the current team. The coaches can’t be with their team, making sure it’s improving, if they’re out on the road recruiting during the majority of the month of July. The summer time is when basketball players spend the majority of their time improving their game. It’s up to the player, though, to do it on their own.
It’s especially a concern for Matta and Co. this season as the Buckeyes will be one of the youngest teams in all of college basketball. Ohio State has five true freshman, a redshirt freshman, three sophomores and a redshirt sophomore. The only upperclassmen on the roster are Loving and former walk-on, senior Jake Lorbach.
“The challenge in recruiting is you go out, but you have to keep in mind what you have back home,” Matta told the Dispatch. “Your first and foremost priority is making those guys better. By the same token, you’re projecting for the future in terms of how players complement each other. You’re really trying to put pieces of the puzzle together.”
