Ohio State gets bump in recruiting rankings from Duane Washington Jr.'s commitment

Ohio State basketball Head Coach Chris Holtmann had a big Tuesday on the recruiting trail with a major addition to the program. Yesterday, he hoped to follow it up with yet another big pickup for the Scarlet and Gray, and that mission was a success.

Washington gives pledge to Buckeyes

On Tuesday, the addition of ‘18 SF Jaedon LeDee of The Kinkaid School (TX) came about. LeDee is a four-star prospect that falls just outside of the Top 100 in the 247 Sports Composite rankings.

On Wednesday, things only got better, as it was ‘18 PG Duane Washington of Sierra Canyon (CA) who gave his pledge to the Ohio State coaching staff.

Washington, a three-star prospect, was primarily recruited by the Buckeyes' new assistant coach Ryan Pedon. The 6'3, 190-pounder ultimately chose Ohio State over the other 29 offers he had received in his recruitment, including programs such as Cincinnati, Iowa State, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, SMU, Virginia Tech, UCLA, and more.

The pickup of Washington, who now joins the aforementioned LeDee as the only two commits in the class, puts the Buckeyes at 32nd in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings and as the tenth-best class in the Big Ten conference.

While that may not seem great, it is worth mentioning that Ohio State does have a couple of spots left in this year's recruiting cycle. Depending on who joins LeDee and Washington in the class, it would not be surprising if the Scarlet and Gray stormed past Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers and began flirting with a top-five ranking within the conference.

Jones gets UA All-American threads

Switching gears to the gridiron: ‘18 QB Emory Jones of Heard County (GA), who has been committed to Ohio State for a little over a year, also had himself a special day on Wednesday.

That’s because Jones, a four-star standout and Top 50 prospect nationally, received his Under Armour All-American game jersey at his ceremony at his high school in Franklin, Georgia.

That’s the annual all-star game shown by ESPN that features many of the nation's top talents. From an Ohio State perspective, cornerback Sevyn Banks of Florida, defensive end Brenton Cox of Georgia, offensive guard Matthew Jones of New York, and running back Brian Snead of Florida are other 2018 Buckeye commitments that are planning to participate in the event.

In past years, the event featured Ohio State players like Marcus Baugh, Vonn Bell, Nick and Joey Bosa, Gareon Conley, Jashon Cornell, Trevon Grimes, Dwayne Haskins, Jamarco Jones, Jalin Marshall, Raekwon McMillan, and many more.