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National Signing Day has come and gone, but that doesn't mean that Ohio State's coaching staff is resting. In fact, they're recruiting harder than they ever have. With Stan Drayton causing a stir in the recruiting world by leaving for the NFL, damage control was done with Tony Alford's hire, and the coaches are already making new connections in the class of 2016. But the football staff isn't the only recruiting team at Ohio State.
The basketball Buckeyes received good news on Monday when the top overall recruit in the class of '16, power forward Harry Giles, released a list of his top eight schools. The 6'10, 210-pound Giles is rated as a five-star according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and is ranked as the top player across the board overall, both at power forward and in the state of North Carolina. Giles released his top eight schools via Twitter:
Top 8 Schools No order Duke Kentucky Kansas Syracuse UNC Wake Forest Ohio St UNLV
— Harry Giles (@TheReal_HG3) February 10, 2015
The teams to make the cut were Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State, Syracuse, UNLV, and Wake Forest. This season with his high school team, Giles has lead his Wesleyan Christian Academy Trojans to a 27-4 record, currently ranked 17th by USA Today.
As you can see above, Duke currently leads in the 247Sports Crystal Ball with 46 percent of the vote, while North Carolina trails with 38 percent. Wake Forest rounds up the top three with 15 percent. While Ohio State certainly isn't viewed as having a serious shot, perhaps Thad Matta and his staff can do some convincing now that they find themselves in the top eight.
But want to say congrats to coach drayton wish nothing but the best , but excited to have @CoachTonyAlford aboard #GoBucks
— Mike Weber (@mikeweber25) February 10, 2015
Mike Weber's thoughts on running backs coach Stan Drayton leaving Ohio State for the NFL have been well-documented, but until now, there seemed to be a disconnect between Weber and the Buckeyes. Coach Meyer and his staff, including Tony Alford, have done a great job of making sure Weber knows how Ohio State feels about him.
After some speculation that Weber might want to get out of his commitment to Ohio State and transfer elsewhere, it seems that fears have been quelled a bit with this "Go Bucks" tweet -- which is only good news for the Buckeyes.
Another big time hoops prospect visiting OSU
Khalil Iverson will be taking a visit to Ohio State on Wednesday.
— Zach Fleer (@ZachFleerLGHL) February 9, 2015
Switching back to some basketball news, '15 small forward Khalil Iverson will be making a visit to Ohio State on Wednesday, taking a tour around the campus and the team's facilities. The 6'5, 205-pound Iverson is rated as a three-star and is ranked as the 61st-best small forward in the recruiting class, in addition to being ranked as the 11th-best player from Ohio.
The Dublin native holds offers from Bowling Green, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Tennessee. He's also receiving serious interest from West Virginia, Indiana, and Xavier. As of now, Iverson is leaning heavily towards Wisconsin as his favorite school, according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions. The Badgers own 90 percent of the vote, with 10 percent slotted to West Virginia. Perhaps a visit to Columbus and an offer from the Buckeyes could change Iverson's views about which Big Ten school to attend.