2016 PF Omari Spellman (OH) committed to Villanova on his mother’s birthday today over Kentucky, Arizona, UConn, Indiana, & Ohio State among others. Omari said he committed today, “in honor of my mother’s birthday and our bond.” I’m sure this was a great gift for Ms. Spellman but Jay Wright and staff may be even more excited than she is.

Omari is regarded as the top big man in Ohio in 2016 in most recruiting services, and some say he is the best overall prospect in Ohio no matter what class or position.This commitment may come as a surprise to some who have followed Omari’s recruitmemt closely as Kentucky and Ohio State looked like the frontrunners. But you can never count out Jay Wright who has been known to snatch up prospects as a dark horse candidate which is exactly what he has done today.

Even though Omari had not been on any visits to Villanova recently and the last time Jay Wright came to visit him was September 27th, Villanova has been there from the beginning and continued to recruit him heavily even after schools that Omari seemed to favor (Kentucky, Ohio State, UConn, etc.) had offered him.

Persistence paid off for Coach Wright in this recruiting battle and Villanova fans should be very excited as they now have a center piece player for the future. Omari will be the guy at Villanova once he arrives because of his incredible raw talent, standing at 6’9 and a tough 275 pounds Omari will be able to bang down low with best of them, even better he will be able to stretch defenses tremendously as he has a nice soft touch in his mid range game and is continually improving on his shot behind the arc. Omari will fit right in in the Big East and will drastically improve under Jay Wright once he gets some collegiate experience under his belt, which is pretty scary considering how highly regarded the guy already is as a Junior in high school.