Buckeye Blogger NetworkThis article incorrectly referenced sources claiming Kendall Gill was Anthony Gill’s father. Anthony Gill Sr. is his father. We are sorry for any confusion.
With the recruiting season coming to a near close, coaches across the country are looking to already experienced NCAA talent to harbor their squads in the next upcoming seasons. With the Buckeyes still holding onto three scholarships for the 2012 class, it’s very likely that head coach Thad Matta is looking at a handful of transfer options for either this season or next year. We’ve already looked at some of those options in the past, including former Mississippi State guard Rodney Hood. Today, we start a series of profiling the possible fits for Buckeye Basketball.
Today, we take a look at former South Carolina forward Anthony Gill. After his visit to campus during the spring game, the buzz has been that he will make a decision between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
For a team that could need some help in the post, Anthony Gill would be a nice addition. Only recruited heavily out of high school by George Washington, Liberty, Richmond, and South Carolina — Gill had something to prove in his first year on the college hardwood.
And despite his desire to leave Columbia after one season, Gill is more than on his way to establishing himself as a marquee player in college basketball. With Frank Martin heading to the SEC after doing such a great job at Kansas State, you’d think a young talented forward would be excited to continue his tenure at the University that recruited him.
Despite playing in all 31 games and starting in 26, there is only one thing though that a young player has that can guarantee they will see the playing time they believe they deserve. The trust of the coach they are playing for.
What Gill brings to the table is still a question that is going to take more playing time to answer. At 6’8″ (on a good day), he really can rebound well and hold his own inside. The best part is that he has the agility to guard out on the perimeter if need be. That’s huge in the B1G and across the nation, because so many power forwards (see Deshaun Thomas) can shoot the basketball and create scoring opportunities by either dishing it off, settling for a jumper, or driving to the lane to get to the bucket.
After riding the momentum of Amedeo Della Valle over the weekend, it seems like the Buckeye coaching staff has their eye on a future forward. After taking in all the festivities that took place this weekend, you have to believe that the Buckeyes are right where they need to be when it comes to Anthony Gill.
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The Buckeyes have finally added someone to the 2012 class, and boy is he a good one to add to the talent pool next year. If your a fan of European play, then you will be excited about the addition of Amedeo Della Valle. The 6’6″ Italian combo guard out of Nevada chose Ohio State today over Texas A&M and Arizona.
At one point, it looked like Michigan was going to be the favorite when rumors swirled that Trey Burke was headed to the NBA. After Burke decided to come back for another season and the commitment of fellow point guard Spike Albrecht, Della Valle made his interest known in Ohio State.
After a visit this Tuesday, it became clear that the Ohio State Buckeyes were the favorite. Arizona has a slew of guards within the 2012 class. Texas A&M is an upstart that could of used his services.
Like we mentioned on Friday’s recruiting update, what is so special about Della Valle is his ability already to play defense. Sure, he is no Aaron Craft, but he adds great depth at the guard position. He also adds range and a good ability to drive to the hoop.
This now means that the Buckeyes have three open scholarships remaining heading into the season.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest.
Here is a scouting video of Della Valle to enjoy.
It looks like another date has been set in the Tony Parker sweepstakes. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Michael Carvell, the Four time Georgia State Champion was set to make a decision sometime today. Miller Grove head coach Sharman White told the paper last Sunday that the top 25 ranked recruit is ready to make his decision and end the process.
Yet again though, we’ll have to wait even further than expected.
At this point, Parker and his family say that they will let the world know where to expect arguably the best 0ffensive big man in this class to land on Monday. Many speculate it’s because The Georgia product has soured on UCLA and is looking at Kansas and Duke more and more as his decision looms. High school head coach Sharman White shared this with folks on Wednesday through the Atlanta Journal constitution.
“Tony and his family just wanted a little more time. That way, they will get the weekend to hammer it out. No official time has been set but it will likely be around 3:30 or 4 p.m.”
Parker, who had planned to announce his school of choice at the start of the signing period, has narrowed it down to UCLA, Georgia, Duke, Kansas and Ohio State.
There is no doubt that the class of 2012 is quite murky at this point of the recruiting process, as schools across the nation gear up for the regular signing period that starts tomorrow.
Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio State are all looking to replace their big man. Memphis and UCLA are also looking to fill voids they’ve had for quite some time.
With the loss of Jared Sullinger and William Buford, as well as Jordan Sibert’s possible transfer, Ohio State has two/three open scholarships left for the 2012 class.
Of the 17 scholarships offered by the Ohio State coaching staff, only three have yet to commit to play for a school next year. And as it looks right now, all three are favoring other schools.
That put’s the coaching staff in a territory they haven’t been in for quite some time.
Swing forward Amile Jefferson still has Ohio State listed in his top five, but there is no doubt that the return of Deshaun Thomas killed any chance of the five star recruit making his way to Columbus. Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina State have all quickly jumped out front. The Philly native was supposed to select a school early in the year, but continues to hold off as he waits for players of each team to declare their intentions for 2012.
With Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of Kentucky and C.J. Leslie of NC State still deciding whether or not to jump, Jefferson is in the dark. Coach K really put in a push for Jefferson’s services before the Wolfpack and Wildcats put their major push in. With Austin Rivers in the NBA, it seems like Jefferson could choose Duke simply because he almost instantly becomes a top playmaker and starter. Especially if Plumblee 1 decides to jump into the draft mix with Cody Zeller staying out of the draft.
Georgia big man Tony Parker was thought to have been a major target for the upcoming season, especially if Jared Sullinger opted for the NBA. Now, according to Baptist, Parker won’t even return voicemails left by the Buckeye coaching staff.
Back in December, it seemed like the former AAU teammate of Shannon Scott was favoring Ohio State. So what has happened since to cause Parker to rethink things?
It’s still unbelievable the pull that Ohio State head man Thad Matta has been able to put together in his time as the head coach of this great university.From Greg Oden to Jared Sullinger to Mike Conley Jr. and Evan Turner — there has been a lot of talent that we have been fortunate enough to watch blossom. Just on this roster, back to back phenomenal classes have proven that this program isn’t going anywhere over the long-haul. This young team will only be forced to say goodbye to William Buford via eligibility. In 2012, only walk-on Alex Rogers and transfer Evan Ravenel will be in their final year of athletic eligibility.
But what about 2012 freshman class? Dave Dickerson, Chris Jent, Jeff Boals and Thad Matta have yet to receive a commit, despite working hard on the recruiting trail.
That doesn’t mean that whoever decides to come to Ohio State isn’t going to be some of the most talented players in the country going into their first year of collegiate basketball. This Christmas Eve, my present to you is an update on the 2012 class and how things are coming together for next year.
One of our personal favorites, William Buford, is coming back for another run.
After Eric’s article on the look-back to last year and the exciting news of adding “the Dookies” to our schedule for next year, I thought why not take a real early look at next year and have a little fun with the article. Hope you like it!
The biggest recruiting gets of the season were obviously the commitments from “Mr. Party in the USA” Jared “Sully” Sullinger and “Suave Smooth” William Buford to return for another year. We have been hurt by guys leaving early in the past, but for the first time Since Thad’s first real class we don’t have anyone leaving for the league early! Both will be primed and ready for big time seasons next year to follow up on their strong campaigns this past year.
Buford will be hungry after a below par showing in the Sweet 16 game against Kentucky. There were times when I was wondering if DLight should have gone over and just stolen the ball from Will as he was struggling to hit anything. Sully, on the other hand, will try and follow up his dominant Freshman season with a Naismith winning season.
Also returning are freshmen contributors from last season: “Backup singer” Aaron Craft and “Always Ready to Shoot” Deshaun Thomas. Aaron will be the leader of the team. In open gyms over the summer he has taken that role, and really started pushing his teammates to get better – look for it to show on the court next season. Maybe we should call him “Gladiator” because he never stops.
I expect to see a little bit of a different game from Deshaun next year. Hopefully I don’t sit in the stands and hear lil old ladies yelling, “pass the ball Deshaun!”, like I did last year. I see him stepping into the starting spot at the 4 position where he will still look to light it up and score, but will take better shots, look to pass the ball a little more, take it in the post, and have a much improved game on the defensive end.
We'll miss you Gentlemen. Good Luck
Last night had to be one of the single worst displays of college basketball I have seen by an Ohio State team in years. That is, of course, an exaggeration, but I’m sure many of you would agree with me on that point.
What is probably not well agreed with is that there are a large number of things the Buckeyes did right in that game. It’s extraordinarally difficult to keep up with a talented team like Kentucky while shooting an atrocious 32.8%. That drops to just under 31% if you don’t count three pointers, emphasizing the difficulty OSU had shooting the ball. It’s pretty rare that excluding your three point shooting drops your shooting percentage.
Let me stress a point. While Kentucky’s defense was very good (11 blocks is ridiculously good) it was not Kentucky’s defense that beat us. If you take William Buford’s 2-16 shooting away, OSU shot 40.5% overall and 41.3% inside the three point arc. As much as I hate to seem like I’m laying blame (I’m not, there’s no blame to lay), it could not be any more obvious why the Bucks struggled in this game.
Wildcat fans, of course, will argue that William Buford’s shooting was so low because of their spectacular defense. In this case, that is not true. The vast majority of Buford’s misses were fairly open looks, with only a few coming with a hand in his face – including that last second desperation shot that just missed. I’m sure that shot is tearing Buford up inside. It shouldn’t be. Tough shots like that sometimes fall and sometimes don’t. It may not be the outcome we wanted, but it doesn’t change the fact that we played tough to end the season.
Shannon Scott
Yesterday, ESPNU ran a number of High School Basketball games. One of those games featured #9 Milton (GA), including point guard Shannon Scott, against #1 Oak Hill (VA). Oak Hill found themselves down quickly to a surprisingly talented Milton team and eventually lost 75-69 at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.
The storyline of the game, though, was the play of Shannon Scott, an OSU Basketball signee. Scott, who was matched up against Duke signee Quinn Cook, scored 12 points in the first half on the way to a 24-7 Milton lead. While Scott was not forced to guard Cook one-on-one, he was still able to display great ability in driving past Cook to the basket. Cook scored 16 points and picked up 8 assists, but shot an abysmal 5-19 (26.3%) from the floor.
This is a great sign for OSU going into next season. With Aaron Craft doing so much this year, including what I believe to have been a breakout game for him against Penn State last night, along with Lenzelle Smith and Shannon Scott, the Buckeyes will be set at point guard heading into the future. This has been such a sore position of need for us the last few seasons, so it’s big to have a stable of great players to fit into the position. Scott will clearly provide another dimension, possibly playing a critical 6 man role by scoring off the bench. This would be exactly opposed to Aaron Craft’s more floor general, distributor style. A nice change of pace during the course of a game.
For more discussion of the Milton/Oak Hill game, the ESPN game preview can be found here.
