We're under a week away from the first live July evaluation period.
It's arguably college basketball's most important recruiting month, and the very first one for Chris Holtmann at Ohio State has arrived.
Over the course of three open windows — the first one runs from July 12–16 — Holtmann and his new staff will travel the country to watch and evaluate top prospects both new and old.
The 2018 recruiting class is of significant importance for Holtmann and Co. As things stand right now, the Buckeyes have seven available scholarships for their 2018 haul, though a seven-man recruiting class is highly unlikely. Expect Ohio State to bring in a four- or five-man haul in 2018.
We've seen Holtmann and his staff be very active throughout their first month on the job extending scholarship offers to quite a few new names. You can add another one to the list prior to the first July live period: Talen Horton-Tucker.
Horton-Tucker is a 6-foot-5 guard/wing out of Chicago. He is listed by 247Sports composite as a three-star prospect and the No. 254-ranked player nationally in the 2018 class.
Horton-Tucker also has reported offers from Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Xavier and others. He took an unofficial visit to Ohio State last week and Holtmann extended a scholarship offer.
Musa Jallow Buzz
If you follow the 247Sports crystal ball there has been a bit of buzz recently for Ohio State for a prospect who was first offered under Thad Matta: four-star guard/wing Musa Jallow. There have been quite a few projections for Jallow to the Buckeyes, which is certainly an interesting development.
Like Horton-Tucker, Jallow is a 6-foot-5 guard/wing. He is a four-star prospect and the No. 136-ranked player in the 2018 class, according to the 247Sports composite. Jallow also has offers from Indiana, Virginia, Stanford, Northwestern and more.
Interestingly enough, however, Jallow is a Bloomington, Indiana, native and attends Bloomington North High School in the same town as Archie Miller's Hoosiers. Theoretically, it may be hard to pry Jallow from IU. However, as of right now, it's unclear how high Jallow is on Miller's board at the position.
It's certainly something to watch here going forward.
Goodwin to ND, What's Next?
In case you missed it, Dane Goodwin, a once longtime Ohio State commit, announced his pledge to Notre Dame on Wednesday night. Goodwin is the No. 4-ranked prospect in the state of Ohio for the 2018 class and a Columbus native, so this is no doubt a big blow to Holtmann and Co.
Ohio State desperately needs backcourt help and Goodwin is one of the top shooting guards in the 2018 class. He is an elite shooter who will undoubtedly find success in Notre Dame's free-flowing offense. Now, the Buckeyes need to find another top target at the off-guard position.
Holtmann offered quite a few guards shortly after he was named head coach. A few of the names to watch: Torrence Watson, Elijah Weaver, Luther Muhammad, Ayo Dosunmu and Eric Hunter. There are others, too, as the Ohio State staff was rather active in the early going.
The upcoming evaluation periods will give us a much better look at the staff's pecking order, which leads us to...
Where Will They Go?
As mentioned, the first of three live July evaluation periods begins next Thursday. Holtmann and his new staff — Mike Schrage, Ryan Pedon and Terry Johnson — will be spread out all across the country observing some top targets and discovering some new ones, as well.
July is a critically important month for the future of Ohio State basketball and we should be able to get some sort of idea how the staff intends to prioritize this crucial 2018 class. Again, there are currently seven scholarships available for the 2018 haul. The Buckeyes are unlikely to use all of them, but a five-man class is certainly possible.
Stay tuned.
