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OSU Men's Basketball Recruiting/Projections/General Discussions

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i'd call this a major development, though key's official to osu was bound to happen sooner or later. really think we're a major player for him.

edit: i'm seeing that key initially had florida set up for his 9/6 official visit. very interesting switch. i'm not saying that key is on a so-called commitment watch, but osu knocking this visit out of the park would go a very long way.

 
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if florida is losing any momentum with key, my guess it's because they've gained momentum with power forward pj hall.

as i've stated a handful of times here, i really like key and think he's an underrated gem. one reason i like him is that i think he's a first-day contributor, which we'll absolutely need if kaleb departs after next season. key may not "wow" anyone, but he has the heft, strength, hands, intelligence, and tenacity to give us some form of interior consistency for the 2020-21 season.

if i'm looking at just the 2020-21 season, i'm taking williams and ware above key, but i'm taking key above loveday and kalkbrenner. sure, key may have the lowest ceiling among the five players, but i think his floor is very high. not sure how much loveday's high ceiling will help us as much as we'll need it to for the season following this one. furthermore, i like how key would complement diallo and, say, bediako as a commitment in between the two.
 
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I wonder if the staff sort of got confirmation that Ware isn't happening and got Key to move his visit up?

I am not super high on Key but I don't disagree that he might be a solid 4-year interior guy at the college level. Which is fine.
 
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I think Key has a solid game, but my question is the style we plan to play and what position he fits at (seems very "tweenerish" to me). He has said he isn't a center (he is a bit undersized for the position), implying that he has no interest in playing it, but he's not a get up and down the floor kinda guy that you'd prefer to have at the 4. He's probably going to be a bit of a defensive liability (again, undersized at the 5 a bit slow for the 4). Now, supposedly he has working on his body and is losing weight which should help with his mobility, but makes it less likely he would play much at the 5.

I think we really do need a big in this class if it looks like Kaleb is moving on. I think I agree on Key over Loveday or Kalkbrenner just because he is willing to get down and dirty in the post. I don't know that I agree that he will add much value as a frosh (big jump from powering through HS kids versus B1G post guys).
 
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rivals released their top 150 for 2020. zed key entered the poll at 115th and may move up even more after his senior season since he'll be playing for what should be yet another nationally ranked team. 247 ranks him 183rd, but i suspect that they'll also move him up a lot when their rankings are updated. prep hoops, which pedon and osu's official accounts follow, ranks key all the way at 61st. this is not so much of a surprise since key was one of the best players at the nbpa top 100 camp, which is what led to osu and about 10 other high-majors offering him the next week.

anyway, key reminds me a bit of trevion williams and xavier tillman. each is 6'8". each is a bit hefty. each plays mostly below the rim. good hands, good feet, rugged, and tenacious. williams was ranked 154th (high 3-star) per 247 composite, while tillman was ranked 112th (low 4-star). my guess is key will end up ranked similarly. and in my opinion, i'd be more than happy to get a williams/tillman-type player for 2020.

having said all of that, if we get key, i really hope we don't oversign this fall with a wing. instead, i hope the staff holds off until the spring. if kaleb departs, then look for a grad transfer post player. whether we get key, loveday, williams, or ware, i'm concerned about post play when you're relying on a true freshman and a sophomore project. i'd be less concerned about such a scenario if it were instead the 2019-20 or 2018-19 season. the 2020-21 season looks to be too important, though. that's a team that projects to be a national contender.
 
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Might just be semantics, but from what I read Key was one of the most "productive" players in terms of rebounding and offensive efficiency, not that he rated as one of the best prospects. From the videos I watched, he was clearly on the bottom end athletically for the pf/c group.

And just to be clear, I am not against signing Key. I just don't see him helping much as a frosh, though I agree his understanding of the little things is ahead of most of his front court peers.
 
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wigmon said:
Might just be semantics, but from what I read Key was one of the most "productive" players in terms of rebounding and offensive efficiency, not that he rated as one of the best prospects.
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yes, that might just be semantics. of course key was not rated as one of the best prospects at the... you know... top 100 camp. otherwise, one would be claiming that key is a 5-star top 10ish player. one's interpretation has to be off by a mile if it's thought that i was saying anything other than that key had a great camp.

and a great camp is precisely what he had. he was tied for 11th in points per game, tied for 6th in rebounds per game, and tied for 1st in blocks per game in a field of the nation's 110 best players. many consider those important stats for frontcourt players.

as far as athleticism goes, i think that's often an inflated priority when talking about post players in the college game. or at least it's usually too narrowly defined by a player's vertical. for a college post player, just give me good hands, good feet, and some strength. other attributes like verticality and explosiveness are extra. you can be the most explosive jumping jack, but if you can't catch a hot pass or execute a drop step, then you're of little help to a good team.
 
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Full Court Press: Bowen Hardman Impressed By Ohio State...
...

During his August unofficial visit, Hardman said, Ohio State’s coaching staff didn’t give him a list of areas to improve in order to earn an offer from the Buckeyes. Instead, the coaches have focused on building a relationship with Hardman and his family.

“They said they trust my game, and I kind of loved it that they said that,” Hardman said. “It's like, 'We want to have a relationship out of basketball with you.' They want to know what character I was, how I treat my family, what I do in my spare time. Every college coach is going to be about your skillset, can you play, can we trust you in the final minutes. And I think that's a big part, just getting to know that player like, 'Can this guy be in the game in the last 5 seconds and hit a shot.' I think that's a big thing.

“I love the way coach Holtmann put things in perspective and was like, 'We love you, you're a great kid. You have a great family and great people behind you. But we want to still kind of get to know you a little bit more and not just basketball-wise.'”

...

“Definitely a big thing why they're saying that definitely to pull me in for is being the Ohio kid and being something special,” Hardman said. “I think that's a big part of it is having kind of a family and home feel for it. I think that's a big thing that they do well. It wasn't just about basketball. It was more about the education. You have a place you can come back to for the rest of your life. I think that kind of clicked big time. Definitely an Ohio school, it felt like home. It was really cool to be able to have that experience and connection with those coaches.”

continued...
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Though Hardman said he “can’t wait” to watch the football game, which he predicts will be a blowout victory for the Buckeyes, he’s more so looking forward to continuing to build a bong with Ohio State’s coaching staff.
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:pimp:
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
yes, that might just be semantics. of course key was not rated as one of the best prospects at the... you know... top 100 camp. otherwise, one would be claiming that key is a 5-star top 10ish player. one's interpretation has to be off by a mile if it's thought that i was saying anything other than that key had a great camp.

and a great camp is precisely what he had. he was tied for 11th in points per game, tied for 6th in rebounds per game, and tied for 1st in blocks per game in a field of the nation's 110 best players. many consider those important stats for frontcourt players.

as far as athleticism goes, i think that's often an inflated priority when talking about post players in the college game. or at least it's usually too narrowly defined by a player's vertical. for a college post player, just give me good hands, good feet, and some strength. other attributes like verticality and explosiveness are extra. you can be the most explosive jumping jack, but if you can't catch a hot pass or execute a drop step, then you're of little help to a good team.
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Again "semenatics", but you meant "most of the nations best 110 players". Key was not among that group before the camp and after the camp while his rankings have risen, his collective ranking is 160ish. Also, the camp was mostly made up of 2020 players, but there were some from 2021 and 2022 (33 from these classes).

I don't dispute he had a "productive" camp. He had a junkyard dog kinda performance which I have an appreciation for and Rivals saw fit to move him up to 115 which is about where they had him last summer before a very ho hum junior year in hs (he finished it on an upswing). His athletic shortcomings go beyond his vertical which is somewhat compensated for by his length, but it was clear he wasn't on the same level athletically as the other front court players in the camp. He is definitely a better athlete than kaleb, but an inch or 2 shorter and 50 pounds lighter. He's probably about the same size as Young, but not as good an athlete.

Again, I think Zed will have a solid college career wherever he ends up and has an "old mans" kinda game. I think he's better than guys like Potter or LeDee because of his fundamentals, but I don't see a guy who is going to have much of an impact in the b1g as a frosh.

Its interesting you said even if we sign Key, you'd look for a transfer big if Kaleb leaves. Seems to be a departure from an earlier post on the impact of grad transfer bigs.
 
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