Blue-Chip Guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker Commits To Virginia Tech

I know i'm in the minority, but I friggin love those uniforms.

Thinking back, I'm a little surprised we didn't go with Virginia A&M. (But I do think Virginia Tech sounds better.)

The loyal spouse's creed.

Yeah, I now hope we get them in the ACC-B1G Challenge. That way they can see how much our "Ole Miss stuff going on" is paying off.

They assumed they were a shoo in because if the rumors are true, it was the Ohio State coaching staff that convinced Markell to reclassify and pursue his opportunities in this class. They then thought it must be a done deal when he did decide to follow their advice. Its not like Ohio State has been trending up with Thad Matta at the helm. They finished seventh in the Big Ten compared to our finishing seventh in the ACC. They won 11 conference games to our 10. They did it with a roster very similar to ours in terms of youth playing heavily but it was also the third year in a row their win total had declined. They had multiple transfers leave the program this year, mostly citing the coaching staff as the reason, not playing time. Those transfers leaving could prevent them from making a step forward this year while Buzz and his bunch seem poised to make a leap forward even with the transfers that have left the program.

Thad Matta has also not been able to close on top talent

Ohio State's recruiting misses have added up

Unexpectedly having a few extra scholarships isn't always a bad thing, but the way the last few recruiting classes have gone for Ohio State, there may not be cause for as much optimism. The misevaluation of players, poor timing of scholarships, and failure to lock down talent close to home has clearly begun to catch up with the Buckeyes. Ohio State hasn't a problem picking up kids who may look good on the ol' 247 Sports Composite, but the results on the court haven't really matched up.

Ohio State's two-man 2016 recruiting class is only 9th in the Big Ten, which especially stings given how deep the 2016 basketball class was in the state of Ohio. You can forgive the Buckeyes for missing on the top two kids in the state, as Omari Spellman and V.J. King played HS ball out of state and didn't have the same emotional ties to Ohio, but 3rd ranked Nick Ward and 5th ranked Matt Moyer, both kids from right down the street in Gahanna, went elsewhere. Xavier Simpson, a 4-star point guard out of Lima, is Michigan bound. Seth Towns, a four-star, easily B1G caliber swingman from Columbus, is off to Harvard. Other Big Ten caliber players dot the rankings and will head elsewhere.

If Ohio State knew they'd have three or four scholarships in 2016 thanks to roster attrition, they probably would have gone after these players harder, but instead, they'll either have to fill up on graduate transfers, or roll over to 2017, which doesn't have nearly as many targets.

Ohio State missing on other, out of state prospects hurts too. The program went all-in on five star point guard Kobi Simmons, only to lose him to Arizona, where he is now a major recruiter. The Buckeyes went in on multiple big name targets before Giddens in 2015, only to come up empty as well.

There are too many three-star Ohio kids that Ohio State passed on that have become productive players, and too many recent Ohio State signees that have either left early, or not panned out. You can take a few Ls on the trail, but not over multiple years. Otherwise, things can start to snowball.

HERE

So finding out that Matta and staff were unable to close the deal with Markell Johnson if it indeed proves to be true shouldnt really be much of a surprise to Buckeye fans.

Adding a guard like Johnson would be a great get for Tech, now it would be all the sweeter to twist it in the ribs of OSU while we do it.

Best part about him is his real name is Khaled Khaled. He also went to high school with Joey Fatone.