It’s hard to believe it’s been that long ago, but Ohio State’s “Thad-Five” recruiting class was all the way back in 2006 — now fourteen years ago. It was new head coach Thad Matta’s first real recruiting class, and it helped set the bar going forward.
The cornerstone commit of that class was Greg Oden, but you also had current NBA star Mike Conley, Jr., Daequon Cook, David Lighty, and JUCO Othello Hunter. That class would make an immediate splash by helping win Big Ten regular-season and conference tournament titles, and an eventual journey to the Final Four and national championship game appearance.
Shortly after that, both Oden and Conely were off to the NBA as one-and-dones, but the program continued to excel. Getting the premier player — if even for just a year — became a Matta principle in recruiting until his departure from the program just three years ago.
And while Ohio State isn’t the king of the one-and-done athlete, that class does rank among one of the best during the era of one-year players heading off to the NBA.
ESPN took a look at 25 of the best one-and-done era college basketball recruiting classes and included that 2006 squad along with a slew of Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina teams. You can get a look (subscription required) at all the classes the worldwide leader in sports programming ranked, but it’s worth noting that the 2013 Kentucky class with Julius Randle and the Harrison twins came in as No. 1.
But back to that unbelievable OSU recruiting class. Here’s what Jeff Borzello and John Gasaway say about one of the best hauls the Buckeye program has ever brought into the program, and where they rank it.