Ohio State basketball looks to land a legacy recruit

Legacy recruit set to receive a visit

Pretty much every Buckeye basketball fan knows exactly who Scoonie Penn is. The former point guard was one of the leaders on Ohio State’s great teams in the late 90s under Jim O’Brien, and he was inducted into the school’s hall of fame back in 2013. What some fans may not know is that Penn is back to being a big part of the program, as he now works as the director of player development under Chris Holtmann.

There could be another Penn entering the fray at Ohio State soon though. Scoonie’s son, Dominiq is a rising star in the recruiting world, and as a 2020 prospect, his recruitment is really starting to take off. After a successful first season as the point guard for Dublin Coffman, Ohio State took notice, and extended an offer back in October. An excellent sophomore year last year confirmed their thoughts about the young Penn, and this week, Ohio State will be visiting him in person.

While the 2020 class is still a little ways out, Ohio State is extremely high on Penn’s game, and would love to add him to what should be an awesome class. He’s ranked as the third best player in the state by 247Sports, and Ohio State is very much involved with the top two players as (Zach Loveday and Zeb Jackson) as well. A class of those three in 2020 would be ideal for Holtmann and the Buckeyes.

The next h-back in Columbus?

There’s been tons of talk since Urban Meyer was hired to coach at Ohio State seven years ago about the h-back position, a spot that he popularized with Percy Harvin at Florida. Urban has spent a lot of his time at Ohio State chasing that kind of player, trying to replicate Harvin’s production, and while he has had some success, he’s never found a true Harvin type star.

Certainly players like Curtis Samuel, Dontre Wilson, Parris Campbell and even Braxton Miller have served well in that role, they’ve all been used more as slot receivers than how Harvin was used at Florida, and at this point, there are questions about if the position even has a place in modern football. However, there is a 2019 recruit that has talent eerily reminiscent of Harvin’s. Four-star Kentucky product Wandale Robinson.

Robinson has been an on again off again target of Ohio State’s for more than a year now, as the Buckeyes have waned between wanting him in their class and having other players above him on their board. Now however, with Brian Hartline running the receivers room, it seems things have changed, and Ohio State is fully invested in landing Robinson. That was reflected yesterday, when he announced that his final official visit would be to Columbus.

This announcement is a big deal for Ohio State. Their 2019 class has been in a lull recently, and nothing would get it on track better than landing Wandale Robinson, and potentially Jameson Williams in a short period of time here soon. While I still think Ohio State has some work to do here, getting the last visit is always a good sign. If they can close the deal and convince Wandale that he belongs at Ohio State, he may be the next commitment in the class.