Is Ohio State college basketball’s next power program?

By: DARREN EVERSON (WSJ.com) — College basketball has a royal class, an exclusive fraternity of elite programs. These are the schools whose tradition and recruiting pull are so powerful, their continued success is virtually inevitable.

Duke, of course, sits at the head of the table. Kansas and Kentucky are full-fledged members too. The question before the sport now, though, is whether another school is on the verge of joining them.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, who took over the No. 1 ranking in both polls this week, loom as college basketball’s next potential power program. They hardly have as many banners as the others: Ohio State’s only national title came in 1960, back when a kid named Bob Knight was a reserve for the Buckeyes. But today, because of years of recruiting momentum and growing success on the court, Ohio State is uniquely poised.

In the Big Ten Conference, where rosters are overwhelmingly composed of homegrown players, Ohio State has become the place to go for top Midwestern recruits. The reasons for this are equal parts luck, good recruiting and great timing.

The state of Ohio has had an unusually rich crop of elite high-school players recently: seven top-20 recruits in the past five years, according to the recruiting site Rivals.com. Ohio State has grabbed five, the latest being star freshman big man Jared Sullinger, who is the younger brother of a former Buckeye.

Nationally, the game’s top coaches keep chugging along—but for how much longer? Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski turns 64 next month, North Carolina’s Roy Williams is 60, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim is 66 and Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun is the dean of the group at 68. Sooner or later, each of these schools will have to endure a coaching transition that could halt their program’s perennial success.

With a young coach (43-year-old Thad Matta), a strong recruiting base, a parade of recent first-round NBA draft picks (six in the past four years) and spare-no-expense facilities (Ohio State plays in a near-20,000-seat arena and is raising funds for a practice facility) the Buckeyes are set up for the future as well as arguably any team. All the program needs to do to vault itself into the sport’s upper crust, observers say, is to win a championship.

This could be the team, although it’s by no means a sure thing. After opening the season with several blowout victories, including an 18-point road rout of then-No. 9 Florida, the Buckeyes have just been just getting by in Big Ten play. Their defense has been so-so against the mediocre likes of Iowa, Michigan and Penn State, allowing more than a point per possession against each in narrow victories.

Still, Ohio State is 18-0, one of three undefeated teams remaining in Division I (No. 2 Kansas and No. 6 San Diego State are the others.) The Buckeyes possess an enviable mix of perimeter shooters, wing slashers and the game’s top big man in the 6-9, 280-pound Mr. Sullinger. “It’s a great chance for them to do something special,” said former Buckeye star Jim Jackson.

Ohio State has made nine official Final Four appearances, more than any other Big Ten team, but the school has earned more prominence on the football field. Eight of those Final Four appearances occurred before……

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