COLUMBUS, Ohio — Eugene Brown III and his family did their homework. They talked with schools, their players, former players, outsiders with unique perspective on the programs recruiting the four-star wing from Decatur, Ga., and anyone else from whom they could glean some insight on this process and Brown’s potential suitors.
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“We had done weeks of reconnaissance,” Brown’s father, also named Eugene Brown, said. “We had a packet for each school that he was considering.”
Then Brown visited Ohio State over the weekend, and the dossier they had built on his top-six schools went out the window with a commitment that came one month earlier than anyone anticipated.
Brown committed to Chris Holtmann and his staff on Sunday before flying out of town following a weekend official visit. The initial plan had been to visit all six of Brown’s finalists, and then make a decision by the end of October. Visits to Texas A&M, Louisville, Georgia and Georgia Tech were still on the docket. Instead Brown couldn’t get out of Holtmann’s office and on the way to the airport before deciding Ohio State would be his home.
Brown is the first commitment in Ohio State’s 2020 recruiting class. The four-star wing, ranked No. 112 overall in the 247Sports composite ratings, also considered Butler in addition to the Buckeyes and the other schools listed above. The 6-foot-6 small forward scooped up the only available scholarship for next season (more on that below), and filled one of Ohio State’s two biggest needs.
Andre Wesson will graduate after this season, leaving Justice Sueing, Musa Jallow and Justin Ahrens as the only wings on the roster for 2020-21. All of those players would be juniors then, and there isn’t another pure wing in the class behind them when you consider that Alonzo Gaffney and E.J. Liddell are more likely to be used in a variety of forward roles rather than strictly on the wing. Brown has good length and could potentially develop into a similar versatile forward, but he’s viewed as more of a small forward or shooting guard who will add a 3-point shooting touch to the roster.
In 65 career games at Southwest DeKalb High School, Brown has made 97 3-pointers. He’s a 32 percent shooter, and a high-volume shooter at that, but he was shooting 52 percent on 3s through the first four games of his junior season before suffering a broken leg in November that kept him out for nearly the entire season. He did end up returning for one game in March, but lost out on valuable recruiting evaluation time with the injury.
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“He was on an AAU team where he wasn’t the featured guy, and then he got hurt anyway,” said Brown’s father, who’s also the head coach at Southwest DeKalb. “So a lot of coaches didn’t get to see all of the things he’s able to do. But they’ll get a chance, and we won’t worry about all the other coaches, just Ohio State now.”
ICYMI, Eugene Brown (2020) picked up an offer from the Univ. of Georgia yesterday. One of the best wings in GA & the country
@gene__11 @Swdbasketball @UGAHoopsFans @UGAHoopsBlog #ABACEpic.twitter.com/30ePcjYhgo
— SUVtv (@SUVtv) June 18, 2019
It’s because of that missed time that there’s some sentiment that Ohio State is getting a steal with this commitment, that Brown wasn’t recruited as highly as he should have been because of the injury and could end becoming one of the more productive players in this class. His commitment to the Buckeyes means they won’t be looking to add another player at the wing position, but they may not be done adding to the class despite being full.
Ohio State could look to add another big in this class, three-star forward Zed Key and four-star center Zach Loveday would be options there. So too could top-30 center Mark Williams, who still has a planned visit to Ohio State in October. There remains the possibility that OSU could sign two players in the November early signing period even it means stretching to 14 players (one more than the allotted 13) on paper for next year. Reasons for that would be to guard against the potential for Kaleb Wesson to turn pro after his junior year, or any other kind of roster attrition.
That will be a later concern. First there was a need to add a player on the wing, and Ohio State did that with Brown.
Ohio State basketball scholarship grid
The Buckeyes’ first contact with Brown came before his junior season when he was recruited by former assistant Mike Schrage. When Schrage left this offseason for the head coaching job at Elon, new assistant Jake Diebler took over Brown’s recruitment.
Brown and his family were admittedly more familiar with SEC and ACC programs in the south before giving Ohio State and the Big Ten a serious look. Part of doing their homework included reaching out to other coaches for their thoughts on Holtmann and how he runs a program. Middle Tennessee State coach Nick McDevitt, who was among the first to offer Brown and coached against Holtmann when both coaches were in the Big South, gave a glowing review.
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“He was preaching about how great Coach Holtmann is, the fit,” Brown said. “He just knew how I was and how everything would link up when I got there.”
Keita Bates-Diop was in Columbus for a workout over the same weekend Brown was visiting and also provided some insight on how Holtmann runs his program. Brown talked with current players such as Duane Washington and Luther Muhammad, and the family spent time with athletic director Gene Smith. It all came together quickly before anyone realized Brown could legitimately leave Ohio State having already made up his mind.
That’s how best-laid plans got upended, and how the Buckeyes filled their roster for next season.
(Top photo: 247Sports)