WESTFIELD, Ind. — Ohio State’s coaching staff made a pitstop before its game at Illinois back on Jan. 28. Thad Matta and Co. made sure to stop in and see 2018 four-star guard Tim Finke, who attends Centennial High School in Champaign, a mere three miles from the State Farm Center on the Illinois campus.
Finke said that doesn’t happen too often — schools stopping in to see him while they're in town to play the Illini — but it certainly makes sense for coaching staffs interested in the nation’s No. 33-ranked player and eighth-rated shooting guard in 2018, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Ohio State offered Finke a scholarship that day and it’s one of the schools he is most interested in.
“I visited [Ohio State] last year. I went to a football game. It’s a really cool campus and I liked the staff a lot; they’re really good guys,” Finke said at Session 2 of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League on April 23. “I like their style of play as well so it’s definitely going to be a school to look at more seriously.”
While it’s convenient the Buckeyes can stop in and see Finke any time they travel to play the Illini, getting him to go someplace else may not be as easy. Not only is Finke from an area that’s only a short drive from Illinois’ campus, but his older brother, Michael, will be a redshirt-sophomore forward on next year’s team and his father, Jeff, played both football and basketball for the Illini.
The ties are incredibly strong. This is an uphill battle for Ohio State, but not an impossible one, either. Finke does his best to distance himself from those Illinois connections throughout the recruiting process.
“I always go into every visit or whenever a coach comes to see me, I’ve gotta just think, ‘What’s the best opportunity for me?’” said Finke, whose primary recruiter on the Buckeyes’ side of things is assistant coach Greg Paulus. “I’m not even close to picking a school yet so I’m really going to take my time in the process and find the right school for me.”
Although he is a 2018 prospect, Finke is playing up an age level this spring and summer on the AAU circuit, running with the St. Louis Eagles in the EYBL 17-and-under level. Through two sessions, his team is 5-2 and Finke is averaging 9.5 points — third on the team — and 4.0 rebounds per game on a squad with two other top-100 players, including Darius Garland, the nation’s 16th-rated player in the 2018 class.
Finke’s decision to play up an age level was made so that he could play against better competition and improve going into his junior season.
“Playing up against bigger people, it’s always going to give me some type of advantage especially going into my high school season,” he said. “Everybody is stronger, faster, it’s only going to help benefit my game and take it to a whole new level.
“I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job so far. I didn’t know what to expect coming in, but I think I’ve handled it decently.”
In addition to Ohio State, Finke also mentioned Illinois and Creighton as schools who have offered him already. This past week, he picked up offers from Northwestern and Notre Dame. At the EYBL, before the Irish offered, Finke said Notre Dame was a school in which he was "pretty interested." Virginia and Michigan are also intrigued by the 6-foot-5 guard.
But the Illini, by all accounts, are the heavy favorite in Finke’s recruitment even though he says there may not be a clear-cut leader at this point in time. After all, Finke said he’s not in any hurry to make a decision as he’ll only be a high school junior next season.
“I’m taking my time right now in the recruiting process,” he said. “It’s been fun.”
