Rising 2023 wing Kaiser adds Ohio State scholarship offer
All Jamie Kaiser knew he needed was a chance.
An unranked prospect in the 247Sports.com rankings for the class of 2023, Kaiser had an eye on the spring live evaluation period as an opportunity to showcase his talents and increase his profile nationally. More than a dozen scholarship offers and a new position at No. 77 in the national rankings, the new four-star small forward/shooting guard from Burke (Virginia) Bishop Ireton has done just that.
“It’s been awesome because I know that I was good enough, but I just needed that live period and that platform to play the way I’ve been playing so that I could show the (high-major) coaches that I was good enough to play at their level,” Kaiser said. “Then a bunch of them ended up offering, so it’s exciting.”
Ohio State is on the list of schools to enter the picture. The 6-foot-6, 205pound Kaiser said Buckeyes assistant coach Jack Owens got in touch, leading to a scholarship offer. Since early April, Kaiser has also added offers from Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgetown and Miami.
In his conversations with the Buckeyes, Kaiser said he’s been asking the same types of questions he’s asked each school recruiting him.
“It’s pretty much been like, what is there other than basketball that you have?” he said. “Because at the end of the day high-major basketball is highmajor basketball. Big Ten, ACC, it’s all big-time so I want to see what else they’ve got going on that I can benefit from because if they’re going to use me to play basketball then I’m going to use the school to further myself too.” What has been Ohio State’s answer? “They sell that they have probably one of the best college environments in the country,” Kaiser said. “The Big Ten is the most popular with people always filling the seats. They’ve sold the most tickets for the last 44 years and no matter what school you go to in that conference you’re going to get a great education but especially Ohio State, and the support that you’re going to get from them is better than most because of the fans they have. .”
247Sports lists Kaiser as a small forward, but he primarily plays shooting guard and could project to both positions at the next level. The size he brings to the position has been attractive to college coaches, Kaiser said, and this spring has allowed him to showcase a more well-rounded overall game. Last year, his AAU role primarily consisted of being a catch-and-shoot player who was also a defensive menace in short spurts.
Now, he’s playing a more all-around offensive game while defending at a higher level for longer stretches.