Ohio State lands junior big man

When he sat down and considered his options, three-star junior big man Micah Potter wanted to take his time with his recruitment. But, after another visit to Ohio State over the weekend, he just couldn't hold off.

He committed to the Buckeyes on Monday.

A 6-foot-10 center at Mentor (Ohio) High, Potter was first offered by Thad Matta and the Buckeyes. They tracked him closely with his grassroots team OBC at the Adidas Gauntlet series in Dallas two weekends ago and were able to seal the deal over the weekend after showing him everything they could about the program.

"Being an Ohio kid getting that offer is huge," Potter told Rivals.com. "It's always been a dream of mine to go to Ohio State. I didn't want to make any kind of decision until I saw campus and I considered other schools as well. The real thing that made me commit was on Saturday I went to their spring game.

"I had previously seen all of the basketball facilities and practice on visits. On Saturday, though, I got to see the rest of the campus. I got to see the dorms where the basketbal players stay and met with an academic adviser and the strength and conditioning coach. I told my dad I'm not going to commit after this visit but after seeing campus and the environment of the school it was everything I've always wanted."

Because of all of that, Potter couldn't hold off from making a commitment.

"I let coach Matta and the staff know on Saturday," said Potter. "I wanted to keep it quiet so that I could call the other coaches and express my appreciation for them spending the time and money to recruit me."

A fluid big man who can shoot the ball, Potter is also capable of protecting the rim. Matta and his staff told Potter that a lack of size has hurt Ohio State in the past so landing him was a big deal.

"The big thing they said and have told me and the reason they recruited the guys for 2016 they did and 2015 is the size," said Potter. "The reason they had some down years recently is their lack of size and lack of ability to play multiple big men at once.

"I bring shooting ability and being able to spread the floor. The big person they compared me to is Jared Sullinger but I'm more of a shooter and move better. He was a primarily inside guy and I can do both. If you have a guy who can play the four and five position and step out and shoot that makes it easier for the guards to do what they need to do."

While Potter didn't stick to his initial gameplan for recruiting, he's more than happy with how things ended up.

"It's a little bittersweet but it's more sweet than it is bitter," said Potter. "The recruiting process was fun and it was cool to talk to all of these coaches, but I'm more than happy to be a Buckeye."

Potter is the Buckeyes second commitment from the class of 2016. He joins big man Derek Funderburk who currently ranks No. 48 nationally.