FORT WAYNE, Ind. — As things stand right now, Ohio State's 2018 recruiting class figures to have at least four members. Based on available scholarships and seniors scheduled to depart following next season, that's just how it appears like it will work out.
The Buckeyes already have two commitments in four-star guard Dane Goodwin and three-star wing Justin Ahrens. Ohio State recently lost its third pledge in the 2018 class when four-star forward Darius Bazley announced his decommitment April 26.
There are several top in-state targets currently on the Buckeyes' radar in four-star guard Dwayne Cohill as well as four-star forwards Jerome Hunter and Pete Nance. Hunter and Nance each participated at the Spiece Run N Slam last weekend and updated their recruitment with Eleven Warriors.
- After Darius Bazley's Decommitment, Ohio State Amped Up Its Efforts With Jerome Hunter
- Pete Nance Hoping to Become Next Star in Family Full of Them
Another player on the Buckeyes' radar for 2018 is Musa Jallow, who was recently offered by Ohio State.
Just received an offer from The Ohio State University
— musa aziz jallow (@mjallow21) May 4, 2017
Jallow is rated as a four-star prospect and a top-100 player nationally by all four major recruiting services: 247, Rivals, Scout and ESPN. He's a 6-foot-5 guard whose other offers include Indiana, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Butler and more.
Jallow attends Bloomington North High School in Indiana so the home-state Hoosiers are going to be tough to beat, but Virginia is also a strong contender in his recruitment. Jallow plays his AAU ball for the Indiana Blaze and he went head-to-head with Goodwin and All-Ohio Red in one game over the weekend at Spiece.
Goodwin and All-Ohio Red won 59-51 in overtime — they went on to win the entire tournament — but Jallow put up 23 points and displayed a strong all-around game.
Ohio State Offers Five-Star 2019 Prospect
The Buckeyes extended another recent scholarship offer to a player from Indiana, but this one comes from the 2019 class.
Keion Brooks Jr., the No. 17 player in the country for 2019, was offered by the Buckeyes last week.
Thankful to receive an offer from Ohio State University #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/JABpDLoMtd
— Keion Brooks Jr. (@KeionB_12) May 5, 2017
Brooks is a 6-foot-8 wing from Fort Wayne who already has offers from Kansas, Michigan State, Indiana and more. He plays AAU on the Nike EYBL circuit for the Spiece Indy Heat.
Check out some highlights from Brooks' sophomore season below:
Goodwin, Ahrens Each Hoping to Expand Their Games
We wrote about Ohio State's two 2018 commitments earlier in the week and their current standing in the class. You can read about it here, but both Dane Goodwin and Justin Ahrens said over the weekend they have no intentions of backing out of their commitments to Ohio State.
Instead, each is using this spring on the AAU circuit to work on a specific part of their game.
At 6-foot-4, Goodwin plays both inside and outside during his high school season for Upper Arlington. He knows he won't do much inside at the collegiate level, so he's working this spring to become a better wing player.
“I think definitely being more of a two guard, play more out on the wing," he said. "I know once I get to college I’m going to have to do that. I’m not going to be as big as I am in high school. I’m just working on perimeter skills mostly.”
Ahrens said he's working to put on weight while also working on strengthening his perimeter game like Goodwin.
“Probably my strength and quickness and then my ball handling, too, I need to work on that," Ahrens said. "I would say my shooting is still my biggest strength.”
