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
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.
Ranked as the No. 66 player in the Class of 1999 by talentscout Stephen Wacaser. Ranked as one of the Top 10 point guards inthe country. Averaged 21 points in leading River Rouge to a 27-1and a state championship last season. Led summer AAU team to thestate title and to the championship of the adidas Big Time SummerClassic in Las Vegas, one of the nation’s top summer tournaments(250 teams). He averaged 20 points with 25 in the final to earn aspot on the all-tournament team. Coached by Lamont Stone in highschool. Recruited by Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, Connecticutand Syracuse. “Brent is one of the premier point guards in thecountry,” O’Brien said. “He was a highly recruited player. He is anintelligent player with the ability to score.” “When you think ofBrent you think of a winner,” Stone said. “He has done it at everylevel. We were a senior dominated team (9). He was the only juniorstarter and the youngest player and he leads us to a statechampionship. After that he played on an AAU team and led them to astate championship and that team went on to a national AAUchampionship.” “Brent is considered a lead guard,” Stone said. “Buthe may be more of a scoring guard though he averaged close to sevenassists a game. If you have other good players around him he getsthem the ball. When you need a basket he can take over a gamehimself.”
Slobodan Ocokoljic (o-SOAK-o-litch), 6-8, 210, Forward, Yugoslavia, Massillon Washington (Ohio) High School
Believed to have Top 100 potential–Hoop Scoop. Averaged 16.4points, 9.4 rebounds and connected on 38 percent of histhree-pointers. “He can drive to the bucket and post up. Those areboth skills he’s still developing and improving on…(OSU coaches)like his perimeter shooting, the way he handles the ball and hissize. He’s a real match for what they wanted. I think Coach O’Brienis trying to get kids who really understand the game and Slobodanfits that.”–High school coach Matt Creamer. “He is a versatileplayer,” O’Brien said. “He has the ability to play inside and out.We liked his ability to put the ball on the floor and shoot.”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
“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.” Radojevic choseOhio 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 College Conference,considered the best conference in the U.S.
n Team finished 29-4 and was ranked No. 3 in NJCAA Division I.
