The flagship university in his home state. The defending national champion. And a school whose head coach he has only met once.
From the outside, one of Keon Johnson’s three finalists doesn’t fit in with the others.
Credit assistant coach Jake Diebler for even putting Ohio State in the conversation to land Johnson, the No. 30 overall prospect and the top-ranked player from Tennessee in 2020. Without him on Chris Holtmann’s staff, Johnson’s finalists would almost certainly include Tennessee, Virginia and Vanderbilt, the school Diebler formerly coached at.
Instead, the Buckeyes all of a sudden find themselves in the mix, along with Tennessee, often regarded as the favorite, and Virginia.