With the heralded recruiting class known as the “Thad Five” due arrive on campus for fall quarter, led by 7-foot center Greg Oden, Ohio State head basketball coach Thad Matta is laying the groundwork for a sequel in 2007.

Canton GlenOak junior Kosta Koufos verbally committed to Matta and the Buckeyes on Monday.

The 7-foot-1, 260-pound athletic center is regarded in many outlets as a Top Ten recruit, and one of the best post players available in the class of 2007.

Koufos was limited to just 11 games during his junior year before he broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in January.

Prior to the injury, he was averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists per game for the Eagles.

Koufos had received interest from major NCAA Division I schools such as Ohio State, Louisville, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and received offers from Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.

Playing for the first time at the Papa John’s King James Shooting Stars Classic AAU basketball tournament in Akron the last weekend in April, Koufos had narrowed down his college choices to Ohio State, Louisville and Maryland.

“It’s exciting,” GlenOak coach Jack Greynolds Jr., told the Akron Bacon Journal. “Ohio State has the No. 1 recruiting class this season and with Kosta and a few other guys they should have a top-five class next year. With it being Ohio State, it’s obviously exciting for the area. It’s not to far of a drive and his family can watch him play.”

While his team struggled in the first game of the tournament, the King James Shooting Stars came back the next day to beat the Fox Valley Skillz. Koufos said he is starting to feel better.

“It was pretty good. I was kind of sore, but I’ve been working out now for about a week,” Koufos told CardinalSports.com, a web site devoted to Louisville athletics. “I still can’t do some things, but winning is winning so I am happy about that. I just need to get my wind back. I need to some more running and some more full workouts and get my wind back. I think I’ll get my wind back in about a month.”

Even without his wind, Koufos was still an impressive presence. His 7-foot-1 frame causes defenders problems, and Koufos’ outside jump shot is developed far beyond his age.

In an interview Koufos gave to, ironically enough Go Blue Wolverine Magazine last summer, he was asked if Oden coming to Columbus would be discouraging.

“Oh no. No. Not whatsoever. That national championship is all I care about. Winning is all I care about. If I play the bench or don’t play at all, winning is winning,” Koufos said.

“Coach Matta and I reviewed tape about my position. Oden is a year older than me. He might go to the NBA or he might stay two years. It doesn’t matter. He said he’ll play me at the three or the four. Getting off screens, shooting the elbow jumper, driving the hoop, and passing it out. “

If you read correctly, Koufos said he could play the three (small forward). At 17-years old and 7-foot-1, he could still grow another two to three inches.

Koufos, who is of Greek ancestry, has the ability to score in the post or facing the basket, and he is a European-style big man. He has been compared to Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki.

“Dallas Lauderdale (currently a junior at Solon) will be the five man in that case. So we’ve got all of the Ohio people coming to Ohio State.”

Asked if he was going to help recruit Lauderdale just like Daequan Cook did to lure his AAU teammates Oden and Mike Conley to OSU, Koufos said, “I haven’t really played with Dallas, but I think both of us together could play real well.”

Lauderdale, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound center is ranked eighth at his position by rivals.com, and ninth by scout.com. He has been compared by some as a Sam Perkins-type, an impressively built power forward prospect with a gigantic wingspan who is not afraid of contact and can run the floor.

His choices have been narrowed down to Ohio State, Louisville, and Syracuse.

Koufos is the second player to verbally commit to Ohio State from the 2007 class.

Last September, 6-foot-7 shooting guard Jon Diebler from Upper Sandusky, who averaged 35.9 points per game last season, orally agreed to attend college in Columbus.

Diebler broke Upper Sandusky’s single-game scoring recond by pouring in 77 points against Tiffin Columbian last January.

Diebler made 22-of-42 field goal attempts, including six three-pointers, and was 27-of-28 from the free throw line. Four of his three-pointers came in a span of 56 seconds in the third quarter.

The 77 points are the seventh-highest total in Ohio history according to the OHSAA and are believed to be the most points scored in the state in the last 37 years.

Bellaire St. John’s Allan Hornyak, who went on to star at OSU, scored 86 points against Tiltonsville in 1969.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball //