Ohio State basketball still in pursuit of 4-star Illinois prospect

The offseason is not nearly as peaceful for college football and basketball coaches as the name indicates. The dog days of summer are when teams are built, be it through recruiting, conditioning, or just general program upkeep. That is evident every day when there’s news on the recruiting front, and today, the longest day of the year, is no different.

Offers keep rolling for basketball prospects

As is to be expected when an entire new staff takes over a program, Ohio State is sending out a bunch of offers right now, to players that weren’t really on the radar of the previous coaching staff. The most recent offers, however, have gone out to a number of familiar faces for Buckeye fans. One of those offers went out to Illinois four-star guard Tim Finke.

Finke received an offer from Ohio State back in January 2016, but as we’ve seen with top targets Dwayne Cohill, Jeremiah Francis and Jordan Mitchell, the new staff is making their rounds, letting targets know if they still have a place in Columbus.

Finke has been thought of as an Illinois lean for a while now, but Butler was one of his top teams, along with Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Creighton and the aforementioned Illini. Holtmann is a big reason that Butler was in consideration, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Finke took a serious look at Ohio State.

Crystal Ballin’

The 247sports Crystal Ball is usually not something that should be taken as gospel. However, there are a few analysts that are worth listening to when they make a prediction, and one of those guys, Bill Kurelic, made a prediction that would greatly benefit the Buckeyes recently.

Kamryn Babb is one of the best receivers in the country, and Ohio State’s top target at the position, along with L'Christian Smith. Babb has been considered an Ohio State lean for a good part of his recruitment, and for the past few months, Babb’s eventual commitment has felt like more of a “when” than an “if”.

The Missouri product was recently in Columbus for a camp, and will be surrounded with Buckeyes in Oregon at the end of the month at Nike’s The Opening event. He may not commit until fall or even winter, but unless something changes (it’s recruiting, something could absolutely change), my guess is that Babb will be a Buckeye.

2019 quarterback prospect emerging

With Emory Jones already in the fold for 2018, Ohio State can shift the quarterback recruiting focus to 2019. We talked about 2020 prospect Harrison Bailey a few days ago, and today, we’re talking about a new target in the 2019 class, three-star Iowa State commit Dwan Mathis.

The Michigan product camped at Ohio State over the weekend, and wowed everyone in attendance. He looked like one of the best quarterbacks there, and if he puts up an impressive junior season, he could be a candidate for an offer from the Buckeyes.

He’s not the top guy on Ohio State’s quarterbacks list for 2019 – that distinction falls to Grant Tisdale. However, if Ohio State misses on Tisdale, Mathis could very well be the guy in 2019. He has a ton of talent, and while he’s not necessarily as developed as some recent Buckeye quarterback recruits have been, he has a fantastic arm, and a very high ceiling. Keep an eye on this one.

Dane Goodwin decommits

The big news of the day came via the basketball recruiting trail, as Upper Arlington, Ohio guard Dane Goodwin decommitted from Ohio State after spending the last two and a half years as a Buckeye commitment. The Ohio State 2018 class that once held three commitments has now lost all three in wake of Thad Matta’s downfall, and ultimate replacement by Chris Holtmann.

Obviously, losing a commitment is never a good thing, but according to to Dane’s father, Damon, this may be a mutual decision.

Dane has continuously said that he will continue to look hard at Ohio State, and while the Buckeyes aren’t out of it yet for the talented sharpshooter, it may be an uphill battle for Chris Holtmann. Initial reports indicate that Notre Dame and Villanova are two schools to watch for Goodwin.