Dane Goodwin has never met new Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann.
Well, that’s about to change.
Goodwin, the Buckeyes’ lone verbal commit in the class of 2018, and his family are scheduled to meet with Holtmann early this week, the four-star shooting guard told Eleven Warriors.
Holtmann was officially announced as Ohio State’s new head coach Friday. He replaced Thad Matta, who was let go after 13 seasons in Columbus.
After the decision to part ways with Matta was made, Goodwin said he would remain committed to the Buckeyes and then would re-assess the situation after a new coach was hired. The move to hire Holtmann was made quickly and that’s something Goodwin believes is a positive.
“I think it was good that they got a coach in relatively quick,” Goodwin said. “Coach Matta being fired at this time, it wasn’t exactly the best timing of it so to get in coach in four or five days, that’s good.”
Goodwin admitted he didn’t know a ton about Holtmann but knew he was a very successful coach at a proven program in Butler.
“I’m definitely looking forward to meeting him,” Goodwin said. “I know his track record at Butler and it’s really, really good. I think he’s got a lot of momentum going because he had a good three years at Butler so hopefully he’ll do really well at Ohio State.”
At one point, the Buckeyes’ 2018 recruiting class had three players committed — all from Ohio. However, four-star forward Darius Bazley decommitted prior to Matta’s dismissal and cited program struggles as a big reason why.
After Ohio State opted to part with Matta, three-star wing Justin Ahrens also announced his decommitment. Ahrens said he would still consider the Buckeyes once a head coach was named but felt he needed to explore his options after the coaching change.
That left Goodwin as the lone player committed in the class.
With the current state of Ohio State’s roster — nine scholarship players including two seniors — Holtmann has the potential to sign a big class in 2018 if he wants. There are a lot of options out there, too, especially in the state of Ohio.
One of those options is Goodwin, the state’s fifth-ranked player and a top-100 prospect nationally. Priority No. 1 is keeping him in the fold.
“I’m not really going to make any decisions before I do that, sit down and talk with [Holtmann],” Goodwin said. “Then I’ll kind of assess where the situation is at.”
