The state of Ohio produced a bevy high-profile prospects in the 2016 class. Ohio State kept two of those at home.
The Buckeyes announced the signings of Derek Funderburk and Micah Potter on Wednesday and Thursday, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta was able to address his recruiting class publicly for the first time.
“I think both of these guys, they both have good size and strength. Both can move the weight around a little bit, that sort of thing,” Matta said. “Both these guys were extremely excited to come to The Ohio State University and it’s funny because we’ve usually had the most success with those types of young men.”
Both Funderburk and Potter are big men with Funderburk listed at 6-foot-9 and Potter at 6-foot-10. They’ll provide depth to a frontcourt that already features sophomore Trevor Thompson and a pair of freshmen in David Bell and Daniel Giddens in the middle.
Matta said both Funderburk and Potter are versatile bigs and, because of that, adding a pair of them to an already crowded frontcourt wasn’t necessarily a huge concern.
“It allows us more of the ability to play bigger just in terms of we can play a stretch four, we can put two bigs out there,” Matta said. “I think those options. I like that both guys are highly skilled and can do different things.”
For now, Ohio State is at the full amount of allotted scholarships for the 2016-17 season. As it stands right now, the Buckeyes will have 11 returning scholarship players next season, plus the additions of Funderburk and Potter.
But it doesn’t remain a secret Ohio State is still all-in on the recruitment of Kobi Simmons, a five-star guard in the 2016 class and the nation’s 18th-ranked player. Simmons recently declared he was pushing his decision back until sometime in the spring. Right now it seems to be a dead heat between the Buckeyes, Kentucky and UNLV.
Should Ohio State land a commitment from Simmons in the spring, a change would have to come from the current roster. Matta and his staff aren’t likely to pass up on a player of his caliber.
Matta was asked Thursday about the difficulty of continuing to recruit despite the fact the Buckeyes are currently out of scholarships.
“In terms of where we go from here, we’re always recruiting,” Matta said. “The odds of in college basketball nowadays of a team staying together is almost slim to none. We have to do our job in terms of being prepared if something happens. NBA, overseas, transfers, whatever that situation may be, we have to be ready.”
