With Ohio State tied for first in the Big Ten, OSU fans are relishing in the team’s success. Some cannot resist gazing in to the future and imagining how the team will look next year.

Seniors Boban Savovic, Brian Brown, Tim Martin and Will Dudley will leave after this year, prompting fans to question who is coming in to replace them.

So far the Buckeyes have received early commitments from 6-foot-3-inch guard Ricardo Billings, out of Detroit Rogers High School, and 6-foot-9-inch forward Charles Bass, out of Crete-Monee (Ill.) High School.

Billings is considered one of the best guard prospects in the Midwest. He was a USA Today All-American finalist as a junior, and was named to the Michigan All-state team by the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press.

“He is very versatile and very hard to guard,” said Steve Hall, Billings’ coach at Detroit Rogers. “He just doesn’t do one thing good, he has the ability to do a lot of things well.”

Billings, who patterns his game after NBA all-star Steve Francis, said he has followed the Buckeyes since ninth grade and is looking forward to playing in the Big Ten.

“I love the players they already have there, and I can’t wait to get started,” he said.

Bass was the Southern Illinois Conference player of the year last year, and leads his team in scoring, rebounding and assists.

“Charles is a bit slender but he gives us something that we don’t have in a 6-foot-9-inch power forward who can play away from the basket. He has got long arms and can block some shots,” said OSU coach Jim O’Brien.

Scott Ritter, Bass’ coach at Crete-Monee, said Bass is very hard to guard because he has the ability to shoot outside if guarded by a taller player, and the ability to post-up smaller defender.

“He has a tremendous 72-inch wingspan, which gives him the ability to block a lot of shots, and be a pretty good rebounder,” Ritter said.

Bass said the main reason he chose to be a Buckeye was how much he liked the OSU coaching staff. “They treated me well from the beginning,” Bass said.

His favorite players, whom he likes to pattern his game after, include Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett.

The new class will also include current OSU forward Matt Sylvester, who will be redshirted this year after struggling with injuries the past couple months.

OSU has more scholarships available to add to the class, and O’Brien said he is not finished adding players.

“There are a number of guys we are looking at, and I’m hoping this is not going to be the end of our recruiting class,” he said.

One player who originally committed to the Buckeyes was 6-foot-9-inch center Aaron Spears out of Dubnar High School in Chicago. Spears de-committed in the fall when his grades became a question mark.

Other players the Buckeyes are looking at could likely come from the junior college level, because many of the top high school players have already decided on a college.