It’s hard to define exactly when the plan was laid out for Colin White. What is clear is that, at some point during the last year or two, coaches for the Ohio State men's basketball team laid out a script for the versatile wing from Ottawa (Ohio) Ottawa-Glandorf. It included a few areas of needed improvement in his game and a promise that, if he were to show growth in those areas, a scholarship offer would be his.

A lifelong Ohio State fan who counts D’Angelo Russell and Aaron Craft as his favorite players, White put in the effort. In late July, the Buckeyes rewarded him with a scholarship. Now, he’s repaid them with a commitment to join them as part of their 2024 recruiting class.

“It’s a great feeling that the coaching staff really believes in me and they know I can work hard and really improve,” White said.

In White, the Buckeyes are landing a 6-6, 200-pound rising senior who has shown steady improvement both for his high school and on the AAU circuit this spring and summer. Listed as an unranked small forward in the 247Sports.com rankings, White debuted in early June as a three-star prospect ranked No. 115 in the nation the No. 4 prospect from Ohio.

As a junior, White averaged 20.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists while earning first-team all-state honors and helping the Titans to a Division III runner-up finish. Throughout, he said, the Ohio State staff remained in consistent contact about where he stood.

It was an approach that led him to pick the Buckeyes from a list of five finalists that also included Butler, Cincinnati, Northwestern and TCU.

“I just always felt they were transparent with me,” he said. “They always told me that, 'Hey, we’re not ready. We need to see other things from you.' And I agreed. I hadn’t really proven those things to a lot of people. Especially to them, they just needed to see those things and they were transparent, honest and always told me, ‘We need to see more of this.’

“That transparency was everything to me. That’s why I thought I could really trust them and they really believed in me.”

After earning his offer from Ohio State, White said he went on a few visits but realized about a week and a half ago that he was ready to be a Buckeye. It was a conversation with his prep coach, Tyson McGlaughlin, that helped him solidify his decision.

“Me and my coach had a long talk,” White said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, this is my dream school since I was young. I’ve always wanted to be a Buckeye.’ And he asked me, 'What are disadvantages to all the other places in your top five?' Then he asked me, 'What’s a disadvantage at Ohio State?' I said, ‘I can’t think of one.’ I left that meeting and I felt really good about where I was and decided a few days later.”

White said he committed to the Buckeyes via a Zoom call arranged under the guise of asking the coaches a few questions. With members of the Ohio State staff taking vacation as members of the roster are home for break before starting the preseason, White said his news came as a surprise.

“I don’t think they had any type of clue,” White said. “We ended up telling them that I’m coming, and they were stoked. Coach Holtmann was on a beach, so he was pretty happy.”

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Ohio State Buckeyes adds second member of 2024 recruiting class

White is Ohio State's second commitment for the 2024 class. He joins John “Juni” Mobley Jr., a four-star guard from Reynoldsburg who will play his senior season at Mount Pleasant (Utah) Wasatch Academy.

The Buckeyes could ultimately sign three players in 2024. Aiden Sherrell, a four-star center and Mobley’s AAU teammate, had also scheduled a commitment announcement for Sunday but has canceled it. He had announced a final five of Alabama, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas.

“They see me as a guy that can make an impact right away,” White said of his future role with the Buckeyes. “I have a pretty developed body that still has some work to do, but they see me making an impact, being more of a ball-dominant guard coming off pick-and-rolls and playing a two-man game or creating in transition, getting downhill and shooting 3s. They see me being able to guard 1 through 4. I’ve got good size and good strength and good speed so they see me being able to guard a lot of positions.”

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State basketball lands commitment from Colin White