Ohio State makes the cut for four-star G

Much of the talk surrounding Ohio State has been focused on the football team, however Ohio State’s men’s basketball team is set to host Akron tonight for the season opener. Because of this, the Buckeye hoops squad will soon be making many more headlines of their own. With much of the focus surrounding the start of the season, rest assured, head coach Chris Holtmann and the Ohio State basketball program will continue to remain steadfast on recruiting as well.

Four-star combo guard has Ohio State in top schools

Chris Holtmann has proven in his time at Ohio State that he is one of the nation’s top recruiters. The Buckeyes currently hold claim to the No. 6 recruiting class in 2022 with five verbal commitments in the class. Of the five commits, four of them are listed as top-100 players in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. This impressive combination of talent is also regarded as the top class in the Big Ten.

While Holtmann has led the conference in recruiting in multiple years prior, this 2022 recruiting class is different and projects to be something special.

Ohio State isn’t satisfied with this class alone though, as the program is also hard at work recruiting for the 2023 cycle — one which saw Ohio State earn its first commit earlier this month in four-star guard George Washington III. The men’s basketball Buckeyes are hoping continue this momentum, as another top guard prospect included OSU in his top schools over the weekend.

Four-star guard Stephon Castle took to Twitter late Sunday to announce his top schools, which included Ohio State.

Ohio State will have beat out strong competition if it is to earn a commitment from Castle, though. Alongside Ohio State, he also included Auburn, Arkansas, UConn, Georgia and Georgia Tech in his top six schools.

Since Sunday, we have also learned more information into Castle’s recruitment, which may soon be coming to an end. Castle recently took to Instagram to announce he would “probably be announcing my decision soon this month.”

Brandon Jenkins, 247Sports National Basketball Recruiting Analyst, spoke with Castle recently on his finalists and what he enjoyed about each contender. When speaking on Ohio State, he had the following to say:

“I really like Tony Skinn. I liked the way he talks highly about the program. They have started to turn the culture around there so that really stands out to me about the program.”

Certainly, Castle likes what he has heard from Ohio State, as he has the program in his top schools while only receiving an official scholarship offer in late September. However, unless something changes in the coming weeks, it would be a surprise if he were to choose Ohio State.

Castle has yet to make an official visit to Ohio State, as well as others in his top schools list. In fact, only Georgia Tech and Auburn have received official visits from Castle thus far. This would likely separate them from the four other schools he listed among his final contenders. However, no school seems to be completely out of the running, at least not yet.

If Ohio State is centered on getting Castle to join Washington, an official visit would likely need to be planned in the coming weeks, or Castle would have to delay his commitment. Holtmann can never be counted out until the end, but if Castle were to commit to Ohio State, it would be one of his most impressive recruiting victories to date.

Quick Hits

• On the gridiron, Ohio State is gearing up for a home game versus Purdue. With another home game this weekend, more recruits will be in town to witness the Ohio State game day experience. We learned on Monday that 2023 Temple, Texas linebacker Taurean York will be in Columbus for Saturday’s game. Expect more names to follow suit as well.

• Ohio State 2022 recruiting centerpiece, C.J. Hicks, completed his high school football career this past weekend. Known as “Captain Buckeye” in the 2022 recruiting class, the five-star linebacker will next play football for the Ohio State. He recently posted his senior season highlight reel, which all Buckeyes fans should check out.