Holtmann happy with his class of 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes inked their first recruiting class under new head coach Chris Holtmann on Wednesday as the start of the early signing period got underway. Holtmann and his staff did add two players in the late moments of the class of 2017, but this was his first full class and there is a lot of excitement around the program over the addition of these players.

"We are really excited about this group and we are thrilled about the four guys that signed today and what they bring in terms of their versatility, their competitiveness, skillsets and they are excited to be a part of what we are doing here," Holtmann said on Wednesday to the assembled media.

The class was made up of a pair of four stars and a pair of three stars according to the Rivals.com rankings but these are four players that the staff identified and landed in a very short period of time as they had a lot of ground to make up in terms of recruiting making the move from Butler to Ohio State.

Luther Muhammad, Justin Arhrens, Jaedon LeDee and Duane Washington make up the four-man class.

"We feel that these four guys bring a skillset that is important, some skills that we were looking for and improving in some areas, shooting being one of them, ball-handling and obviously guard play," Holtmann added. "They have some versatility as well."

Luther Muhammad was the highest rated player in the Rivals rankings as the No. 72 player in the class and brings a wide range of skills to the roster. The Jersey City (N.J.) guard checks in at 6-foot-3, 185-pounds.

"Luther is a young man who we have known for over a year and a half," Holtmann said. "From the first days on the job here for us, he was a major recruiting priority. He brings versatility, toughness, high-level competitiveness and an elite defensive mindset. Luther can make shots, make plays with the ball in his hands for others and defend all three perimeter positions. He plays with an edge and his competiveness is contagious."

Duane Washington is also ranked in the top-100 as the No. 80 player in the nation according to Rivals.com. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard joins the Buckeyes out of Chatsworth (Calif.).

"Duane is an outstanding shooter with excellent versatility because of his scoring ability, playmaking and size," Holtmann added. "He has really good feel for the game and brings a confidence and charisma as a player and teammate. He grew up in Big Ten country and understands the demands of playing at this level. Duane is young for his class and we are very excited about his immediate impact on our program."

The Buckeyes went into Texas to land Jaedon LeDee and he gives the Buckeyes some size at the forward position. He was the player that kicked off Ohio State's recruiting roll for this class. The Houston native is a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward.

"Jae got the ball rolling with this 2018 class after taking an official visit here and committing shortly thereafter," Holtmann said. "Obviously, we knew we were going to have a need for a forward and Jae is a young man we identified as soon as we were hired in June. We are really excited about him! He is a very good rebounder, has a great nose for the ball, is physically ready and has versatility. He can score with his back to the basket as well as step out on the perimeter."

Justin Ahrens was committed to the program under Thad Matta and then backed off his pledge. He ended up back in the class and the current staff is happy to have him in the ranks. The Versailles (Ohio) product is a 6-foot-5, 180 pound forward.

"Justin is a versatile and skilled wing guard who has a terrific feel for the game," Holtmann said of the lone Ohioan in the class. "He can really shoot the ball and is a deceptive athlete. We are very excited about him! As soon as we were able to spend some time getting to know Justin he became a major priority because of the impact we felt he could have in our program."

The Buckeyes have brought in seven players over the past two classes and are in the process of making over the roster.

"It has been well documented that we are in the process of rebuilding our roster and we are just really excited about adding these four to the group that we currently have," Holtmann said.

With a pair of guard and a pair of forwards, the Buckeyes have some much-needed diversity in the class. Of course, there are questions if the Buckeyes will add either a big-man or a point guard to this class. To be determined according to Holtmann.

"We have some other needs that we will address in the future," Holtmann said. "We are not going to address every need in your first recruiting class. That is going to take some time."

Holtmann is not closing the door to adding one more to the class when the late signing period hits in April.

"We will be aggressive, maybe adding one more freshman but we may not, too," Holtmann said. "We could potentially add a graduate transfer in the spring. Right now, we are just… we are recruiting a couple but we want to be patient, be sure it is the right one."

Don't look for the Buckeyes to add someone just to add someone. Scholarship management is a big deal and the staff is aware of how to space things out.

"We can't have an eight-member freshman class and it is a reminder to all of us… we want to have balance in our classes and if you have too many, it is hard and that can potentially lead to transfers and you are back to square one," Holtmann said.

The current Ohio State roster gets things started on the court in games that count this week with a pair of games in the span of three days. Ohio State opens the season with Robert Morris at home on Friday (7pm) and are right back at it on Sunday against Radford (230pm) at home as well.