Men’s Basketball Adds Three to Roster for 1999-2000 – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 12, 1998
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%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim O’Brien, head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, announced today the addition of three highly recruited players to the Buckeye program. %^$
%^$Brent Darby, a 6-0, 185-pound guard from River Rouge (Mich.) High School, Slobodan Ocokoljic, a 6-8, 210-pound forward from Massillon (Ohio) High School and Aleksander Radojevic, a 7-3, 245-pound center from Barton County (Kan.) Community College all signed NCAA National Letters of Intent Wednesday. O’Brien credited his assistants with recruiting the three highly sought after players. %^$
%^$”We are very happy with this class,” O’Brien said. “I am pleased with the job turned in by my staff. Dave Spiller and Paul Biancardi did a great job to get three players of this caliber.” %^$
%^$The three players are expected to have the Buckeyes ranked among the Top 10 recruiting classes by several publications. %^$
%^$Radojevic is considered by many as the No. 1 junior college player in the nation. Scouts and recruiting agencies believe he could be an NBA lottery pick down the road. %^$
%^$Darby is rated among the Top 10 point guards in the country and as a consensus Top 50 player. Ocokoljic is rated as the No. 68 high school player in the country by recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, editor of All-Star Sports. %^$
%^$Brent Darby, 6-0, 185, Guard,%^$River Rouge High School, River Rouge, Mich.
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Ranked as the No. 66 player in the Class of 1999 by talentscout Stephen Wacaser. %^$ Ranked as one of the Top 10 point guardsin the country. %^$ Averaged 21 points in leading River Rouge to a27-1 and a state championship last season. %^$ Led summer AAU teamto the state title and to the championship of the adidas Big TimeSummer Classic in Las Vegas, one of the nation’s top summertournaments (250 teams). He averaged 20 points with 25 in the finalto earn a spot on the all-tournament team. %^$ Coached by LamontStone in high school. %^$ Recruited by Michigan, Michigan State,Kansas, Connecticut and Syracuse. %^$ “Brent is one of the premierpoint guards in the country,” O’Brien said. “He was a highlyrecruited player. He is an intelligent player with the ability toscore.” %^$ “When you think of Brent you think of a winner,” Stonesaid. “He has done it at every level. We were a senior dominatedteam (9). He was the only junior starter and the youngest playerand he leads us to a state championship. After that he played on anAAU team and led them to a state championship and that team went onto a national AAU championship.” %^$ “Brent is considered a leadguard,” Stone said. “But he may be more of a scoring guard thoughhe averaged close to seven assists a game. If you have other goodplayers around him he gets them the ball. When you need a basket hecan take over a game himself.” %^$
%^$Slobodan Ocokoljic (o-SOAK-o-litch),%^$6-8, 210, Forward, Yugoslavia,%^$Massillon Washington (Ohio) High School
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Believed to have Top 100 potential–Hoop Scoop. %^$ Averaged16.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and connected on 38 percent of histhree-pointers. %^$ “He can drive to the bucket and post up. Thoseare both skills he’s still developing and improving on…(OSUcoaches) like his perimeter shooting, the way he handles the balland his size. He’s a real match for what they wanted. I think CoachO’Brien is trying to get kids who really understand the game andSlobodan fits that.”–High school coach Matt Creamer. %^$ “He is aversatile player,” O’Brien said. “He has the ability to play insideand out. We liked his ability to put the ball on the floor andshoot.” %^$ Ocokoljic was recruited by Nebraska and Marquette. %^$
%^$Aleksandar Radojevic (Rad-A-yev-itch),%^$7-3, 245, Center, Herceg Novi, Montenegro, %^$Barton County (Kan.) Community College
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“We are very happy to have Alek,” O’Brien said. “He was ahighly touted player. He is the type of player who can do a lot fora program. He has good skills for a big kid. He has the ability tobe an effective offensive force around the basket.” %^$ Radojevicchose Ohio State over Kansas, St. John’s, Purdue, TCU, Florida andFlorida State. n Believed to be the No. 1 junior college prospectin the U.S. %^$ From same hometown as OSU freshman Boban Savovic.%^$ Averaged 11.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 blocks for BartonCounty. %^$ Plays in the Kansas Jayhawk Community CollegeConference, considered the best conference in the U.S.
%^$n Team finished 29-4 and was ranked No. 3 in NJCAA Division I.
