Recruiting: Ranking the Contenders for Charles Bediako

The Ohio State men’s basketball program made another important cut in the chase for heralded 2021 big man Charles Bediako (Bradenton, Fla./IMG Academy) over the weekend, receiving a spot among his top-five finalists.

The Buckeyes were listed alongside Alabama, Duke, Michigan and Texas in pursuit of the 6-foot-11 center, who is a native of St. Catharines, Ontario. He's played his high school ball in the United States, originally suiting up for Andrews Osborne Academy (Willoughby, Ohio) before announcing this past summer that he would be transferring down to IMG.

Bediako is widely regarded as a top 25-30 player nationally and one of the very best at his position, earning a scholarship offer from Ohio State in July of 2019. But, where might the Buckeyes stand right now in this pursuit? Here are the most likely landing spots for Bediako:

1. Alabama: Nate Oats and company have thrown everything at Bediako, and their style of play has appealed mightily. The Crimson Tide also previously signed a pair of players (Josh Primo and Keon Ambrose-Hylton) from the same United Public Leadership Academy up in Canada.

2. Duke: Fellow Canadian product R.J Barrett made a similar move as Bediako during high school, moving from Ontario down to Florida before committing to Duke. The Blue Devils would certainly love to see Bediako continue that same route and into Durham.

3. Michigan: Bediako will be teammates this winter at IMG with Jett Howard, the son of Wolverine head coach Juwan Howard. Jett is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, ranked as a top-75 player nationally.

4. Ohio State: The Buckeyes have the card of seeing Bediako in person, earlier than others, for much of his prep career at Andrews Osborne. Combine that with Ohio State holding just one player above 6-foot-9 (sophomore Ibrahima Diallo) right now, and the sell for early need/contribution is there.

5. Texas: Shaka Smart and his staff have admirably expressed how he would be utilized in the Longhorn offense and have sent multiple big men to the NBA recently (Jaxson Hayes, Myles Turner, Jarrett Allen, Mo Bamba, Tristan Thompson).

Chris Holtmann, assistant coach Ryan Pedon and the rest of the Buckeye coaching staff have three members in the 2021 recruiting class, boasting a trio of in-state, top-100 prospects via shooting guard Malaki Branham (Akron), combo guard Meechie Johnson (Garfield Heights) and forward Kalen Etzler (Convoy). That group currently ranks the Buckeyes No. 9 nationally.

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