2016 5-Star Power Forward Harry Giles Includes Ohio State in His Top Eight

Five-star power forward Harry Giles narrowed his list of schools down to eight earlier this week, with Duke, Kentucky, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Syracuse, Kansas, UNLV, and Ohio State making the cut. Ohio State should be encouraged by their inclusion in Giles' list: he's either the first or second ranked player overall for the class of 2016 and already looks like he could hold his own physically in the NBA to go along with no apparent skill-level ceiling.

Giles is 6'10 and weighs 230 pounds, but moves fluidly and handles the ball well enough that you start to feel bad for the players that are tasked with defending him; watching him play causes this weird facial contortion where you cringe for the defender and drop your jaw for Giles simultaneously. Seriously, look at this:

He seems to have a devastating crossover and a nifty spin move, and it's seriously hard to overstate how fast he looks on the court. Even though he can create his own shot and is lightning quick, odds are that his bread and butter in college will be finishing around the rim; still though, imagine if Tyson Chandler or Amare Stoudemire could handle the ball like a point guard.

Giles is going to be a force in the paint and will be able to out-jump or out-muscle most anyone matched up on him (he looks like he could now, and he's only a junior in high school). He needs to work on his jump shot, which makes sense because he's probably never actually had to use it considering he can get to the rim whenever he wants. If he could develop a couple post moves to go with his handle and quickness, he's going to make a lot of opposing players look silly.

Buckeyes fans should have all of their fingers crossed, not only because of the player he is, but because Giles could actually end up filling a need for the 2016 squad. They don't have any commits yet for 2016, their 2015 class only has one player over 6'7 (Daniel Giddens), and they lose their only meaningful production from big men this year after this season. Ohio State could anchor their entire offense and defense around Giles in the post or in the lane while still being able to push tempo because he runs and finishes so well. Whether it's Greg Oden or Jared Sullinger, Thad Matta's system shifts into another gear with a dominant big man, and Giles looks like he's going to be just that.