OT- The tOSU basketball recruiting pipeline

Submitted by iawolve on

I don't know what Matta is doing, but that guy has been bringing in a ridiculous amount of talent to that basketball program. What I thought was getting lucky early on, has become a trend with the newest addition of Jared Sullinger who is tearing it up as a freshman. Obviously having the state of Ohio has helped, but he has been pulling talent from outside the state as well. I don't know much about Matta or the way he coaches his team, but I am more than a bit discouraged in the manner in which he is able to reload in Columbus. I know they have good basketball facilities, however, he also needs to be able to sell it. Don't know if the board has any insight here.

pdgoblue25

December 28th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^

Im pretty sure Oden was admitted to pre-business for the Fisher school of business at OSU.  He was in one of my classes, and I usually saw him walking around Fisher.  Of course he only had to stay eligible for about 7 months, but he couldn't be a complete moron to get into those classes. 

akearney50

December 28th, 2010 at 7:11 PM ^

Oden didn't have to stay eligible at all.  The first full semester for student-athletes is basically a grace period.  An athlete (I believe this only counts for freshman) could finish their first semester with a 0.00 GPA and be eligible for the second semester.  With this freshman leaving after their first season their GPA never really comes into play.  One and dones never really have to go to class at all.  However, it will be a huge APR hit.  Bob Knight was super pissed about this whole situation a few years ago. 

pdgoblue25

December 29th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^

The streak going on while I was there is one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through, especially since I went to the game in 06.  I still had a Michigan shirt on outside of my house every saturday though, my friends actually stood up for me if anyone ever confronted me, I couldn't thank them enough.  Of course everyone there is all talk and they never did shit anyway.

However, I'll never refer to myself as a buckeye, Im a graduate of Ohio State, but not a buckeye, never.

Zone Read Left

December 28th, 2010 at 12:02 PM ^

Every single 5* Matta has gotten has been from either Ohio or Indiana (which they have owned since Indiana's downfall). While Matta is a good recruiter, it's not too hard for him to pull kids from these places, and once you have a successful program, success breeds success and allows you to get guys such as Amir Williams.

umchicago

December 28th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^

osu was coming of the obrien scandals in 2004 where they vacated a bunch of wins.  the program was in disarray - sanctions and mediocre records.  matta got commitments from oden and conley before the end of his first season there, iirc.

the IU sanctions didnt occur until 2008!  and they just reached the ncaa finals in 2002.  they were consistenly making the big dance.

and don't forget about purdue; only an hour drive from indianapolis.  although they were struggling a bit too.

the shadiness is overwhelming; much moreso than the UM/Martin era, imo.

back in school i thought frieder was probably a bit shady; however, the core of his teams were always michigan kids - turner, jobert, tarpley, rice, mills, henderson.  honestly, the only kids i was "curious" about were the texas portion of the fab5 and jarod ward (#1 player who didn't pan out - from Miss i think).

ChesterBlue

December 28th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^

He was the #1 player in the country, said he went to bed the night before signing day and that Jesus (played in that dream by Ed Martin) directed him to go to UM in his sleep.  He was in the class with Mo Taylor, Maceo Baston, Willie Mitchell and others.  This was just before Lou Bullock and Tractor Traylor came to UM and just before the whole Ed Martin thing blew up...You know the rest.

I think Travis Conlin (current coach/staffer) started at UM about the same time.

twohooks

December 28th, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^

He is making it viable for one stop shopping for the "one and dones." Everything stinks down there to me, and I dont have a raging hatred towrds that University. Im stretching it a bit but why do I sense this is a more polished, more corporate, highly organized SMU with lawyers in place and excuses in hand. Seriously, only 5 football players are cashing in and its capped at $1,250. But then again Im just telling you what I sense, I have no facts outside what has been revealed. Just me and my hunch.

Thatguy2525

December 28th, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^

It has always seemed like they are dirty. I know schools have successful programs, but come on. Why would anybody not from Ohio wanna go there. It's not like they're Michigan. Oh that's right, we got busted for paying players so they know they aren't getting any extra benefits by coming to us.

harmon98

December 28th, 2010 at 12:12 PM ^

let's give coach Beilein some credit:  he pulled Trey Burke from Columbus' Northland High.  Coach Sullinger's team (father of Jared Sullinger of course).

Kolesar40

December 28th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^

Has deep ties to Indiana from his playing/coaching days. I also know that he is a tireless recruiter, and does it the right way. There is no doubt he stocks up and one-and-dones, and takes his chances, but it has worked for him at OSU. He is a pretty good X's and O's guy too, and that is evident from his success at Butler and Xavier (where he was pulling in 2-3* from Indiana).

BlueAggie

December 28th, 2010 at 1:11 PM ^

I also know that he is a tireless recruiter, and does it the right way.

George Dohrmann documented at least one case of Matta breaking recruiting rules in Play Their Hearts Out, so I would have to disagree with the sentiment that Matta does it the right way.

elaydin

December 28th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^

1. Matta is a great recruiter.

2. Ohio has had a ton of talent recently.

3. Indiana has sucked recently (leading to Oden, Conley and Thomas)

4. success breeds success.  Ohio State is an "in" program right now.

 

Ohio State "should" be good in basketball.  The state of Ohio seems to have enough talent to support a lot of good programs (Cincy, Xavier, Dayton, Cleveland State, a bunch of MAC schools).  Ohio State finally seems to be getting the cream of the crop wrt to Ohio, and getting the occasional Indiana/Illinois/Michigan player.

elaydin

December 28th, 2010 at 3:35 PM ^

Not exactly.  When Oden/Conley were in HS, Indiana was having a couple of crappy Mike Davis years (14-15 in 2004, 15-14 in 2005).  The Oden/Conley commits happened after the year OSU held itself out of the tournament, with the understanding that if OSU received another year, they could go elsewhere.  They were also AAU teammates and friends with Daequan Cook, which didn't hurt.