Jai Lai Review: Pre-Draft Edition
June 21 2007 09:28 PM -- Filed in: John Russell
Reports are out this week confirming what anyone
savvy enough to read this blog has known for months:
Mike Conley and Daequan Cook are
staying in the NBA Draft.
Andy Katz’s early projections indicate that these losses (along with some guy named Oden) will keep the Buckeyes from being among the nation’s top teams. While it would have been nice to see what that trio could have done in an encore, their departures and future success are absolutely in the best long term interest of the program.
Ohio State basketball stands on the verge of
accomplishing something for the first time in a
generation: produce a first round pick. Ohio State
hasn’t had a first round pick since Jimmy
Jackson went #4 overall in the 1992 draft. This year,
the Bucks are certain to land two and likely 3.
Think about that for a moment. It will have been 15 years between first round picks for a program with all the resources that Ohio State has to offer. The football team’s longest first round drought in the last 25 years? 2 years. The only other current Big 10 schools to get shut out of the first round over that same time period? Penn State and Northwestern. That is embarrassing company for a school with the basketball tradition Ohio State has, and it is reflective of the type of effort put forth by previous coaches in attracting top-flight talent with enough character to not implode upon arrival.
This was not always so. The 1980’s were good to the Buckeyes on draft day, producing 6 first round selections. Still, that was a long time ago in the sports world, and today’s kids (read: future recruits) do not cherish memories of Clark Kellog and Herb Williams like some of you may.
That is what makes Thad Matta’s recruiting thus far so very impressive; he has sold three consecutive classes of future NBA players on a vision. For the last 15 years, it has not been a given that one could go to Ohio State and become a future NBA lottery pick. Thad has convinced them Ohio State can, again, become a basketball powerhouse, both on the court and in the professional ranks. This trio took the lead on the court last year, and, as they go on to their various successes, they will continue to serve as extraordinary ambassadors for Ohio State to the next generation of hoopsters.
Oden, Conley, and Cook may have only been here a year, but their impact, and Thad’s, will be felt for a long time to come.
Andy Katz’s early projections indicate that these losses (along with some guy named Oden) will keep the Buckeyes from being among the nation’s top teams. While it would have been nice to see what that trio could have done in an encore, their departures and future success are absolutely in the best long term interest of the program.
Think about that for a moment. It will have been 15 years between first round picks for a program with all the resources that Ohio State has to offer. The football team’s longest first round drought in the last 25 years? 2 years. The only other current Big 10 schools to get shut out of the first round over that same time period? Penn State and Northwestern. That is embarrassing company for a school with the basketball tradition Ohio State has, and it is reflective of the type of effort put forth by previous coaches in attracting top-flight talent with enough character to not implode upon arrival.
This was not always so. The 1980’s were good to the Buckeyes on draft day, producing 6 first round selections. Still, that was a long time ago in the sports world, and today’s kids (read: future recruits) do not cherish memories of Clark Kellog and Herb Williams like some of you may.
That is what makes Thad Matta’s recruiting thus far so very impressive; he has sold three consecutive classes of future NBA players on a vision. For the last 15 years, it has not been a given that one could go to Ohio State and become a future NBA lottery pick. Thad has convinced them Ohio State can, again, become a basketball powerhouse, both on the court and in the professional ranks. This trio took the lead on the court last year, and, as they go on to their various successes, they will continue to serve as extraordinary ambassadors for Ohio State to the next generation of hoopsters.
Oden, Conley, and Cook may have only been here a year, but their impact, and Thad’s, will be felt for a long time to come.
