The 2017 Offseason Report
To cap off the high school offseason, we’re here to bring you all the necessary information on who has committed where over the last 10 months.
- Ohio’s class of 2018 has 59 players currently committed to a college program, compared to 52 when we checked in with the class of 2017 on Jan. 30 of this year. The number tells us what we’ve known for four years: this patch of 2018 talent is special. There’s plenty more commitments to come before graduation, including a lot of uncommitted guard who will end up playing on scholarship.
- Of the 59 commitments, 22 will play at the Division I level, 23 are going Division II, 12 at NAIA, and two going to junior colleges (JUCO).
- Central Ohio currently leads the class with the most committed prospects at 19. Northeast Ohio comes in at a close second of 17. Southwest Ohio has 10, with their neighboring Southeast Ohio having nine. Northwest Ohio has the fewest with four.
- It should also be noted that three prospects in the 2019 class have committed this offseason. That group is headlined by Jeremiah Francis to North Carolina. There’s also a pair of very early Division II commits with Joey Edmonds to Findlay and Michael Bekelja to Fairmont State.
- Of the top 50 prospects ranked in the 2018 class, there are 18 remaining.
- Not too long ago, Ohio State had commitments from three of the top six recruits in this class. Justin Ahrens is the only one of that threesome who ended up signing with the Buckeyes. Ahrens makes it six straight recruiting classes where OSU has landed an in-state prospect.
- Speaking of in-state, there are 23 total Ohio senior prospects staying here for college, comparing to 36 committed to an out-of-state program.
- Seven high schools enter the 2017-18 season with multiple players committed to a college program, led by Garfield Heights’ five. Archbishop Moeller and Pickerington North, both of which are also State Championship contenders in Division I, carry three a piece. Africentric Early College, Chillicothe Unioto, Dayton Wayne, and Hilliard Bradley all have two commits.
- There are nine college programs who have multiple 2018 Ohio prospects scheduled to enter their program next fall: Youngstown State, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Lake Erie, Cedarville, Ashland, Duquesne, Fairmont State, West Liberty, and Taylor (IN). Ashland and Fairmont State are the only universities with three commitments from Ohio.
Now, let’s check out the entire list of committed players (alphabetical order).