NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analzying 9 contenders for top-40 C Dereck Lively
Ohio State Buckeyes
After opting out of the sweepstakes for five-star center Efton Reid, the Buckeyes landed senior transfer Joey Brunk. He and returning five-year big Kyle Young will only be around for one year, along with All-Big Ten forward EJ Liddell, who’ll either leave this or next offseason for sure. That leaves the team with next to nothing on the frontcourt, so they’ll be in major need of 2022 commitments.
Similar to North Carolina, Lively would have a ton of playing time for Ohio State. But they would be in rebuilding mode after losing likely 80% of their production a year from now. Barring a major future class, there may be some growing pains for the program. Would the top-40 big man be willing to pick that option compared to much more “safer” choices when it comes to a postseason run in 2023?
Oklahoma Sooners
New head coach Porter Moser just got done developing one of the best big men in the country over the last few years in Cameron Krutwig, who dominated Kofi Cockburn when Loyola-Chicago upset Illinois in the NCAA Tournament. Lively has a different game but imagine what Coach Moser can do with a five-star talent of his own?
The Sooners will have Eastern Washington grad transfer Tanner Groves but won’t have any bigs once he leaves. Lively can be the clear go-to frontcourt option for the Big 12 program and could end up being a star without having to worry about being recruited over in future years for teams such as Duke and Kentucky.