PG Anthony Crater (official thread)

[sandgk]

What was that quote from the Wake Forest boards about Matta? "He's not recruiting, he's choosing"

Good choice with Crater, really good.

['BusNative]

Wow. Just need to add a Roe/Gates for a sure #1 rating (not that that really matters) and save some room in the athletic department for Terrelle Pryor (the sport doesn't matter) if at all possible.

[Cornerback6]

Amazing job by Thad & Co. Pretty soon people are going to be coming to Columbus to see how he's wrapping up all this top talent. This class should be amazing!

[NFBuck]

Un-fricken-believable. Talk about your tireless recruiter...

Coach Matta is building something truly special here.

[osugrad21]

CPD

OSU MEN'S BASKETBALL



Great recruiting class of '08 gets Crater



Tuesday, November 28, 2006 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Thad Matta's recruiting machine rolls on. The Ohio State men's basketball coach added a fourth top 100 oral commitment for his class of 2008 on Monday with the pledge of Flint, Mich., point guard Anthony Crater.
The 6-2, 170-pounder chose the Buckeyes over Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Arizona. He's rated as the No. 24 player in the current junior class by recruiting service rivals.com. He joins other OSU commitments B.J. Mullens (7-foot center, ranked No. 3), forward William Buford (No. 49) and guard Walter Offutt (No. 92).
The Buckeyes remain hot after St. Edward's Delvon Roe, the 6-7 forward who's the No. 5-ranked player in his class. Like Crater, Roe was on a recruiting visit for the Ohio State-Michigan football game last Saturday.
"Everybody thought I was crazy," Crater said of his decision to bypass the defending national champion Gators. "But Ohio State is only four hours from my house and they're No. 1 right now, and Greg Oden hasn't even played."
Ohio State's current freshmen ranked as the No. 2 recruiting class in 2006, while the recently signed Class of 2007 was ranked No. 6 by rivals.com.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OHIO STATE MEN?S BASKETBALL
Point guard chooses Buckeyes
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



Less than three weeks after adding five recruits for next season, Ohio State men?s basketball coach Thad Matta brought a fourth into the fold for 2008.
Anthony "Noopy" Crater, a 6-foot-2 junior point guard from Southwestern Academy in Flint, Mich., announced yesterday that he plans to play for the Buckeyes. He chose them over Arizona and Kansas.
Crater visited Ohio State the weekend of the football game against Michigan, which gave him the chance to not only experience Buckeye Nation at its zenith but also see Matta?s system in action in a game against Eastern Kentucky. He said he made a commitment to Matta that weekend but had known for two months where he was headed.
"It?s just something about Ohio State I liked, the special connection with the coaches, the nice environment, the best education I can get," Crater said.
Crater joined three other high school juniors who have committed to sign with Ohio State next year: center B.J. Mullens of Canal Winchester and guards William Buford of Toledo Libbey and Walter Offutt of Indianapolis. Buford, Mullens and Crater are rated among the top 21 players nationally in the ?08 class by the Scout.com recruiting Web site.
Crater said he got his nickname when he was younger from an aunt who thought he looked like Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip. Since there could be only one Snoopy, he said, she called him "Noopy."
Crater averaged 13.3 points and 9.5 assists as a sophomore in leading Southwestern Academy to a Class B state semifinal.
Michigan State and Michigan were not among his finalists despite the Spartans, especially, having benefited from a rich pipeline into Flint during the past decade.
"Coming up as a kid, I always wanted to leave, to see new stuff, see a lot more than what we have here," Crater said.
bbaptist@dispatch.com