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Sean Jones seeking to become first local prospect offered by OSU since 2017

Jake Spegal • DottingTheEyes
Staff Writer
@JakeSpegal270
Jake Spegal - Basketball Recruiting Analyst / Three years of experience writing, editing, taking photos and filming for 270hoops.com / Looking for ways to perfect my craft every single day

Recruiting local talent has been a major area of success for Ohio State basketball over the last decade. The Buckeyes landed Jared Sullinger in 2010, Jae’Sean Tate in 2014, Andre Wesson in 2016 and his brother Kaleb Wesson in 2017.

There’s been one constant variable between each of these players: not one of them transferred and they all competed extremely hard and gave it everything they had for their hometown team for the entirety of their time there.

It’s something about playing for the school you grew up rooting for that simply can’t be beat. The Buckeyes have had issues with prospects transferring after just one or two years over the last five years, but none of those players have been from Columbus.

Chris Holtmann and staff haven’t landed any Columbus prospects since his arrival, however.

Former Upper Arlington standout and current Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin decommitted from the Buckeyes shortly after Holtmann’s arrival in June of 2017, while former Pickerington North star and current Indiana wing Jerome Hunter and former Pickerington Central and current New Mexico point guard Jeremiah Francis were the only other local prospects to receive an offer from Holtmann and staff.

There hasn’t been a single high-major player in the 2020 or 2021 classes in Columbus so it wouldn’t be fair to say that Ohio State has been missing out on kids, however, there is one big local name to keep an eye on in the class of 2022.


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Rising Gahanna Lincoln junior point guard Sean Jones, who holds offers from the likes of Xavier, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, VCU and 11 other programs, has continued to be in close contact with the coaching staff at Ohio State over the last several months.

“I’m in contact with Ohio State almost every week,” Jones told BuckeyeGrove. “I hear from (Coach Ryan) Pedon the most. The relationship is good, they’re really good people.”

Jones now has a high major offer from programs in the ACC, Big 12 and SEC in Pittsburgh, Kansas State and Mississippi State and he told me that the Buckeyes aren’t the only Big Ten program pursuing him, as he also hears from Purdue and Iowa often.

He says he has no current favorites in his recruitment race and rightfully so as he is just heading into his junior year and may still be a bit under the radar due to the fact that schools couldn’t see him compete against other high-major prospects on the EYBL circuit this spring due to it’s cancellation amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I don’t really have any favorites,” said Jones. “But I’ve developed a really good relationship with VCU, North Carolina State, Xavier and Purdue. Those are the schools that I’ve had virtual visits with.”

Although grateful that he has had a chance to get a bit of a look at these programs, the junior told me virtual visits simply just don’t compare to a real visit and he’s hoping to get to these campuses in person at some point once everything settles down.

Jones, who is somehow still unranked but is a three-star on Rivals national site, would have benefited from a spring EYBL circuit more than arguably any other prospect in the state. Regardless of ranking, it’s the evaluation of his performance against other high-major level players that could really make him a high priority for Power Five programs across the country.

“It was tough (having the EYBL cancelled), especially when you know the team you’ve got,” said Jones. “And yeah I think it hurt my ranking. It’s like, I’ve only played against other school ball competition and never was seen against other ranked players.”

After leading his high school team to a 24-2 record and being named Player of the Year in the toughest conference in Ohio in the winter, Jones said he used the time off in the spring to continue to round out his all-around game and improve his vertical before he got a bit of a shortened AAU summer over the last couple of months.

“Shoot dice,” Jones said jokingly when asked what he did during the quarantine. “Just kidding. I just did a lot of hooping and really a lot of jumping. I worked out with Jason Dawson and Kyle Byrd of Dose Training.”


“It’s been decent having a bit of AAU but it’s been hard to get the whole team together because of what’s going on. To be honest, I think I’ve been scoring the ball and blocking shots the best,” said Jones.

Jones has continued to improve as a shooter over the last year, as his deadly handle allows him to create space seemingly whenever he wants and creates open shots for himself as well as others at a high rate. He can seriously pass the ball and is one of the best on-ball defenders in the state regardless of class.

To get a good look at what Jones would bring to Ohio State if he can break the mold of Columbus prospects in the last two years and secure an offer from the Buckeyes, check out the YouTube video below from 270 Hoops.

Although being the hometown kid who gets an offer would be a big time accomplishment, Jones tells me it wouldn’t exactly make any drastic changes to his recruitment (other than possibly persuading other Big Ten Programs to pursue the junior harder.)

“I mean, yeah, it would be a great feeling but I wouldn’t just be satisfied with it,” said Jones.

Jones recently shined at the 270 Hoops 2022 Challenge in front of Ohio State and more than 80 other programs Division I amongst the likes of Virginia, Arizona, North Carolina by way of livestream and if he gets any type of shot to go up against high-major prospects in the near future, look for the junior’s relationship with Ohio State and other Power Five programs to continue to grow.

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