Thad Matta and the Ohio State Buckeyes have the 20th best recruiting class in the nation for 2016 so far after getting the 11th best class in 2015. There are still a lot of very good recruits in the 2016 class that have yet to make decisions and Matta isn't satisfied with what he has so he is doing everything in his power to improve on his 2016 recruits. Kobi Simmons took his official visit to Ohio State and they reportedly pulled out all of the stops to try and impress the five-star recruit, according to Bill Landis of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
Simmons has also previously taken official visits to UNLV and Kentucky but before these official visits Kentucky was considered the heavy favorite to land the 6 foot-4 point guard, according to 247 Sports.
Official visits tend to make things more clear with what players are thinking in terms of their decisions and Simmons' father Demond Stephens came away very impressed.
Michael Redd, Mike Conley, D'Angelo Russell and Evan Turner were all at the school this weekend to help recruit Simmons during Ohio State's football game against Hawaii. "Every guard that's ever been there I think was there. No that's not normal, I've been coaching and mentoring children for 18 years, and I always tell Kobi, one thing that is more valuable than where somebody goes and how successful they are is do they call you back for their marriage, their college graduation? After they've gone on, do they still even talk to you?" said Stephens.
Simmons is a five-star point guard from Alpharetta, Georgia and is ranked as the 18th best player overall and the fourth best point guard in the 2016 class, according to ESPN, so it is no surprise that the Buckeyes put the full court press on for him.
Despite Stephens being very impressed he said that Simmons enjoyed all of his recruiting trips and that they are unsure when a decision will be made.
"He was so surprised with UNLV, he loved it, he loved Ohio State, he's been in love with them forever. Kentucky is Kentucky, who doesn't love that? There's no rush, you don't have to tell anybody a date. If you wake up tomorrow and say this is it, or if you wake up Oct. 3 and say this is it. I don't want him setting a date because that can make you make a decision that may not be natural," said Stephens.
Ohio State has a rich recent history of guards coming through and playing their college basketball there and then going on to play in the NBA so it was a nice touch that they brought a lot of those guys back to show Simmons what kind of company he would be joining. Simmons' father said he's been in love with Ohio State forever and this recruiting trip likely only enhanced that love. A decision has not been made yet but you would have to think that the Buckeyes have at least closed the gap on Kentucky for Simmons' commitment.
