OSU Buckeyes

The nation's top-ranked Class of 2014 recruit, Jahlil Okafor, cut his list to eight schools Wednesday, with Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State remaining in the mix for the ridiculously talented center. But like every other great post, Okafor will be dependent on a player -- primarily the point guard -- to deliver the post feed or drop-off pass on time and on target for him to be in the best position to score.

Let’s take a look at how the eight finalists may sell Okafor on how he’ll receive the ball in their half-court sets.

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Last weekend in Minneapolis at the fourth and final session of the Nike EYBL, No. 1 junior Jahlil Okafor (Chicago/Whitney Young) spent a lot of his free time with two friends and fellow top-10 prospects in the 2014 class: Tyus Jones (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley) and Justise Winslow (Houston/St. John’s).

There has been a lot of talk that those three elite recruits could choose to play together in college. On Wednesday night, Okafor tweeted that his final eight consists of -- in no particular order -- Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Why did he decide to narrow his list now? What were the factors in determining the finalists? Which programs were the toughest ones to leave off? How serious is the talk of a possible package deal with Jones and Winslow? And what exactly makes Okafor such a special, highly sought after prospect? Let’s examine.

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- For the second time in three weeks, the Dallas area played host to a major travel team event as the Under Armour Invitational rolled through Texas last weekend. There were plenty of star recruits on display, in addition to several up-and-coming and under-the-radar prospects who continue to boost their stock this spring.

Here were the top 10 things I learned from the UA Invitational.

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Brandon Harris named his top seven. Demarre Kitt waxed poetic about his top three. Demetrius Knox booked his official visit and a slew of offers went out -- and we mean a slew.

Just another week in the life of Ohio State.

Here’s a look at what went down in yet another busy week of Buckeyes recruiting.

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FRISCO, Texas -- Soso Jamabo (Plano, Texas/Plano West) would have liked to be a part of this weekend’s Nike EYBL series playing with the Texas Titans. With a sling on his right shoulder, however, the 2015 two-sport star was reduced to watching the Titans on the bench, offering instruction to teammates and being the team’s biggest supporter.

For the rest of the spring and most of the summer, Jamabo’s focus will be on rehabbing after undergoing shoulder surgery on April 30. Jamabo broke some bones and damaged some ligaments in his shoulder during a Texas Class 5A Division-I state quarterfinal playoff. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete is expected to miss 6-10 weeks but is projected to return a couple of weeks before Plano West’s first scrimmage in August.

“It’s early in the process, but it’s going well,” Jamabo said of the rehab process. “I’m just trying to get the shoulder back to usual, if not better. Right now, I’m just doing basic stuff and keep everything as minimal as possible.”

Exactly what kind of football player will Plano West look to see back on the field? Jamabo’s first rush as a varsity player was against Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus on Aug. 31. It went for 12 yards. His second rush: A 75-yard touchdown run.

Since then, Soso has been ... well ... anything but.

Only the shoulder injury managed to slow the electrifying 2015 running back down. He rushed for a team-leading 1,697 yards and 24 touchdowns and also caught 20 passes for 453 yards -- an average of almost 23 yards per catch -- and four touchdowns. On the basketball court, Jamabo averaged 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 11 games.

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This year’s NCAA tournament has been full of great stories, from Florida Gulf Coast’s Cinderella run to La Salle going from First Four to Sweet 16 to the Big Ten placing four teams in the final 16.

But what about the stories behind the stories -- the tales of how some of this year’s March Madness stars ended up at their eventual schools and helped shape this year’s tourney? To delve into those, this week’s top 10 looks at the 10 best recruiting stories from players and teams in the Sweet 16.

Top 10 Recruiting Stories From the Sweet 16

1. Trey Burke, Michigan
Mick Cronin is not going to want to hear this again, but it’s true. Burke was going to Cincinnati. It was nearly a done deal. But one last call to Michigan’s staff changed the fate of two programs. According to recruiting lore, Burke’s father called a final time asking Michigan if it was interested in Burke. If the answer was no, then Burke was going to Cincinnati. This was in late July of Burke’s pre-senior summer. Remember, it wasn’t like the now All-American was hot stuff then. He was good -- a late top-100 player -- but he wasn’t the player then that he has become. Ultimately, Michigan said it wanted Burke and the Wolverines landed him a few days later.

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Recruiting is a tricky deal to figure out sometimes.

There’s Duke, which knew it had to replace seniors Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly with a stud frontcourt player in this recruiting class. But conversely, did the thought of potentially having to replace sophomore Shane Larkin even enter Jim Larranaga’s mind at the beginning of the season? I know Larkin is not likely going anywhere, but still, the point is that it can be hard to know exactly what you’re going to need to replace in recruiting.

To that point, Tom Crean knew Victor Oladipo was good, but no one saw this type of year coming from the now projected lottery pick.

Once the afterglow of this season wears off, many Wooden Award finalists will need replacing -- and that’s not an easy task. So while not every player on this list will turn pro, the point of this top 10 is to rate how well each team prepared for the contingency going forward in recruiting.

Top 10 Recruiting Replacements for Wooden Award Finalists

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There was a commitment -- in basketball -- for Ohio State, of course there was a decommitment as well -- in football -- in what can only be deemed a crazy week for the Buckeyes.

Urban Meyer -- or Thad Matta for that matter -- never sleeps in the recruiting world as evidenced by yet another rough-and-tumble seven days.

Sunday brought news of running back Jonathan Hilliman planning a visit to Columbus, Ohio, while Cleveland John Hay wide receiver Deon Colvin said he loves the Buckeyes.

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Ten games into every season, Garfield Heights (Ohio) coach Sonny Johnson cuts up tape and sends it out to colleges to help his underclassmen get recruited. Most of the time, Johnson is trimming up film on guards. This year, the response he received from the film on 6-foot-9 junior power forward David Bell was as strong as he’s ever gotten.

“Nobody had seen the kid,” Johnson said. “I made highlight tapes with 10 games to go in the season. When I sent them to Illinois, Iowa and all these schools, they were going crazy about him. When I sent it to Ohio State they came up right away.”

Ohio State, which is building an impressive junior class, wasted no time with Bell. And in turn, Bell wasted little time with the Buckeyes, committing to Ohio State on Monday night.

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One of the nation’s top juniors, ESPN 60 small forward Jalen Lindsey (Franklin, Tenn./Christ Presbyterian Academy), narrowed his collegiate focus over the weekend.

Lindsey, ranked No. 14 overall in the 2014 class, released a list of nine schools he’s most interested in at this point.

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