With the very good possibility that Kosta Koufos will remain in the NBA draft and the recently announced transfer of freshman forward Eric Wallace, the Ohio State Buckeyes Men’s Basketball team is left thin at the power forward and center positions. Coach Thad Matta and staff went hard after Southwestern Illinois College F/C Josh Harrellson, but a visit to the University of Kentucky last week all but put the Buckeyes out of contention for the 6′9″ big man from St. Charles, Missouri. Now Matta and his staff turn their attention to another JUCO big man, 6′9″ Nikola Kecman, from Eastern Arizona College.

Nikola Kecman, originally from Belegrade, Serbia, stands at 6′9″ and weighs 215 lbs. He averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game at EAC this past season as a freshman. Kecman, who has three years of eligibility remaining, has a number of schools interested in his services, but has narrowed things down to Ohio State, Kentucky, and Mississippi. The other schools that have shown interest in the Serbian big man are St. John’s, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas State, and Fresno State. Kecman visited Kentucky early last week and is expected to visit OSU within the week. Being that it is probably a matter of time before Harrellson announces his commitment to Kentucky, there is a very good shot that the Bucks land Kecman.

According to Eastern Arizona coach Tim Walsh, Kecman would fit the Ohio State system well as a power forward “who can really run the floor, is skilled, and can shoot the basketball.” Walsh went on to praise Kecman, saying, “He’s got a great future both as a person and as a student-athlete. I think he can help anyone on the next level because of his skill, but I do think he picked the schools he did because of what they do. He can do a lot of things as a four-man and he can help people extend defensively as well because you can spread the floor with him.”

Kecman may not be the only experienced player to land with the Buckeyes in the upcoming weeks as Mott College (Flint, Michigan) guard Jeremie Simmons will be visiting Ohio State’s campus today and tomorrow. Simmons is a 6′2″ guard who can provide depth to the point guard position after averaging 21.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 3.0 steals for Division II Mott as a sophomore last season. He would be eligible to play immediately and would have two seasons of eligibility left. Simmons’ recruitment took off with OSU after Vicennes College (IN) guard Devan Dumes decided to pick the Indiana Hoosiers as his next destination over the Buckeyes. Simmons has offeres on the table from Alabama, Dayton, South Florida, and Butler among others and should make a decision very soon. Look for breaking news in the next week or two from DTI about these two possible new additions to the 2008-2009 OSU Basketball squad.