Men’s basketball Buckeyes are red-hot on the recruiting trail

Most of the talk surrounding the Ohio State beat has been focused on the football team. While the Buckeyes got the win Saturday versus Tulsa, the game was far from pretty and there are still questions that Buckeye Nation is hoping to see answers for sooner than later.

However, while the Buckeyes have been busy on the gridiron, Ohio State’s basketball program has been hard at work on the recruiting trail. Just last week, Ohio State visited with multiple blue-chip prospects - one that may result in their next commitment in the 2022 cycle. This week appears to be more of the same as Ohio State visited with two recruits on Monday and will reportedly visit with another one today.

Ohio State visits with two Guards Monday

The men’s basketball Buckeyes started the week on the road, visiting with two elite guards on Monday. According to Jake Weingarten of stockrisers.com, Chris Holtmann and co. visited with both London Johnson and Stephon Castle yesterday.

While Holtmann himself was reportedly unable to make either trek Monday, Ohio State did have assistants in both Kentucky and Georgia yesterday.

Both Johnson and Castle are guards, with Castle projecting as a combo-guard at the collegiate level and Johnson as more of the traditional point guard. The two are also viewed as being some of the best in the nation as well. Johnson is the No. 8 PG in the country and the No. 35 overall player in the 2023 class. Comparatively, Castle is the No. 10 SG and the No. 49 overall prospect.

The guard position is one Ohio State has quickly made a priority in the junior cycle, as they visited with two guards last week as well. Though the Buckeyes have three verbal commitments at guard in the 2022 cycle, the position is one Ohio State will need to soon replenish in the coming seasons and the priority will likely continue.

Expect Ohio State to try and host both Johnson and Castle in the future as they will each be highly-coveted prospects.

Buckeyes set to visit with 4-star CG

While Monday was busy, Ohio State will not be done making visits with recruits this week just quite yet. Weingarten also reported Monday that Ohio State will be visiting with four-star combo guard George Washington III later this morning.

Washington is another one of the nation’s top guards in the junior cycle. He is the No. 9 CG in the class and the No. 42 overall prospect in his class.

Ohio State offered the blue-chip prospect earlier this summer and has remained in contact with with him ever since. While Ohio State will be in Louisville this morning to visit with him, it will be seeing him again soon. The Buckeyes are set to play host to Washington this weekend and it should be an electric weekend to visit. The Ohio State football team will be hosting Akron on Saturday night and it can be expected that the basketball program will use it as a recruiting tool as well.

The Buckeyes are not alone in their pursuit of Washington however, as Tennessee has also upped their activity in his recruitment. The Vols offered Washington earlier this month after hosting him on an unofficial visit, and the team will also be reportedly visiting with him tomorrow as well. Tennessee and Ohio State are the two programs leading the charge in his recruitment, but nothing is guaranteed. It is expected that we should learn more about his standing with Buckeyes following this weekend’s visit.

Quick Hits:

• One of Ohio State’s top priorities in the 2023 football recruiting class, Sonny Styles, visited with Clemson last weekend and the visit went well enough where they are now one of his top schools. With Notre Dame still the favorite to land his commitment, Ohio State’s coaching staff will have their work cut out for them in securing the No. 1 recruit in Ohio.

• The All-American Bowl was kind to Ohio State on Monday. The Buckeyes saw George Fitzpatrick commit to playing in the game and fellow Ohio State commitment Kyion Grayes will be presented with his virtual jersey on Wednesday. Key Ohio State target Xavier Nwankpa will also be presented with his virtual jersey Wednesday.