Basketball: Lighty (very) likely a Buckeye

I have no link here, but scan an OSU or UM message board anywhere and you'll see someone claiming that Michigan target David Lighty has committed to the Buckeyes. I am a seasoned diviner of message board rumor accuracy, and this one seems very likely to be true. Lighty will announce officially on Monday. Expect it to be bad news.

If the news is indeed bad, this is a more a huge get for OSU than a huge loss for Michigan--Amaker has already secured a commitment from wing K'len Morris and prospective commitment DeShawn Sims plays a similar position, leaving little room for a third wing in this class. Not that Lighty is anything to sniff at--he's currently ranked as a five star by Rivals and a top-20 recruit nationally, though that ranking may dip since he tore his ACL a few months ago. OSU has already secured a commit from a five star shooting guard/small forward prospect in Daequan Cook, who committed about a month ago. A commit from Lighty would get the ball rolling in a major way. OSU is still in on Greg Oden, a center who is the consensus #1 overall prospect for the class of 2006, and his teammate and friend Mike Conley, a highly recruited point guard himself. Picking up commits from those two and a fifth top-100 recruit (any top-100 recruit) would result in a class that would at least equal the Fab Five. It's safe to say that new OSU coach Thad Matta is off on the right foot.

I wouldn't panic extensively, however. All indications, er, indicate that PG Tory Jackson and Sims are Wolverines in all but name and that center Tom Herzog is very likely to follow. Those three plus Morris are a certain top-10 class nationally. A fifth recruit, hopefully a post who can vacuum in rebounds and flagrantly elbow people, could push it up into the top five. Michigan isn't at the point where it has to worry about other Big Ten programs... get the house in order, make the tournament, and then look around warily. Still... Matta looks like a guy who knows what's he's doing. Maybe we can hire his defensive line coach.