CLEVELAND, Ohio – Looking at Cleveland State’s men’s basketball recruiting class tells you a lot about how the game is changing.

That recruiting class is tied with Dayton as the fourth-best in Ohio, and No. 80 in Division I, according to Rivals, one of the top recruiting services. The top three in Ohio are Xavier (22 overall), Cincinnati (46) and Ohio State (52).

Another recruiting service, 24/7, ranks the Ohio schools this way: Xavier (19), Cincinnati (43), Ohio State (60), Dayton (100), Akron (111) and CSU (122).

CSU is the best in its Horizon Conference in either ranking.

The most notable are a pair of three-star high school recruits: 6-foot-5 Alec Oglesby and 7-foot-2 Mabor Majak. They also have the No. 11-ranked JUCO player in the country in D’Moi Hodge.

Coach Dennis Gates has signed three junior college players, two players straight from high school, and one prep school player.

That gives him a recruiting class of six.

“The days of signing lots of high school kids are probably over,” said Gates. “A lot of kids already are transferring. Next month, the NCAA is supposed to vote on a rule allowing kids to transfer once without sitting a year. If that passes, even more will transfer."

The possible new rule can have a major impact on college sports.

“It was becoming rare for kids to play at the same school all four years,” said CSU Athletic Director Scott Garrett. “Now, there will be more movement.”

Consider this from ESPN’s Jeff Borzello:

“There are currently 746 Division I men’s basketball players in the transfer portal, 181 of them classified as graduate transfers. That means 565 players have entered the portal with the expectation of sitting out the 2020-21 season, in accordance with previous NCAA transfer regulations. If a change is enacted that would allow first-time transfers to play immediately at their next school, and it’s put into effect for next season, most of those 746 players would be able to play right away.”

Heading into this season, more than 40 percent of Division I basketball players had transferred at least once. If this new rule passes, the four-year, one-school player will go the way of the two-handed set shot.

Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates has put together a strong recruiting class for next season. Marvin Fong / Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer

THE JUNIOR COLLEGE ROUTE

Perhaps the recruit most likely to make an immediate impact at CSU is Hodge, a 6-foot-4 scorer for State College of Florida.

“He’s a pure scorer,” said Gates. “I was recruiting him when I was an assistant at Florida State.”

Hodge is the usual JUCO player. He spent two seasons at the junior college near Sarasota. He averaged 25.2 points in 31 minutes a game, shooting .462 from the field (.373 on 3-pointers).

But CSU’s other JUCO recruits are a part of a new wave.

Cleveland Heights product Yahel Hill is the school’s all-time leading scorer. The 6-foot guard began his college career averaging 13.5 points at Division II West Liberty University. He transferred to Tallahassee Community College, where he averaged 6.3 points.

“That’s a top-20 JUCO program,” said Gates. “I believe they had eight of their players go to a Division I school. Yahel is a solid student and he’ll help us.”

WHY KEEP TRANSFERRING?

But why go from a D2 school to a JUCO?

“Because a kid can be eligible to play right away,” said Gates. “Then he can be recruited again. A lot of these kids want to play Division I basketball.”

That’s also the story with another CSU recruit, Chris Greene.

The 6-foot-8 forward began his college career at Division II Wheeling Jesuit. After a year, he transferred to Community College of Beaver County, where he averaged 13.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and shot .419 from 3-point range.

CSU had a player named Daylen Williams, who played very little as a freshman. He is looking to transfer to a junior college, then hoping to be recruited by another D1 school after the 2020-21 season.

CSU recruit Jayson Woodrich averaged 26.1 points per game at Beachwood High School in 2018-19. He went to a prep school last season. Joshua Gunter / cleveland.comcleveland.com

LOCAL FLAVOR

CSU finished the season with an 11-21 record (7-11 in Horizon), but Gates was picked as the Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year. Gates wasn’t hired until late July. CSU was picked to finish last in the conference.

He was shopping for a shooter and believes he found one in Jayson Woodrich, who averaged 26.1 points per game for Beachwood as a senior – shooting 41 percent on 3-pointers.

Woodrich went the prep school route hoping to attract Division I interest. He picked Scotland (Pa.) Campus, a national prep school powerhouse.

“(CSU assistant) Dru Joyce III built a relationship with Jayson,” said Gates, “Jayson can step on the court and start hitting 3s within 20 seconds.”

CSU shot only 29 percent on 3-pointers last season, worst in the Horizon League.

With Hill and Woodrich, CSU has two local recruits who have returned home after going away to school. Gates hopes that helps him attract other Northeast Ohio talent.

THE PURE FRESHMEN

Alec Oglesby was a strong student at The Rock High in Gainesville, Fla. and part of a 2019 Florida state title team. He graduated in January and enrolled at CSU.

“He was able to practice with us,” said Gates. “He also was eligible to play. I was really tempted to put him on the court for the last half of the season. He’s that good.”

But Gates wanted to let the 6-foot-5 guard sit out so he can have four full years of eligibility starting in 2020-21. He was an honors student and three-star recruit.

The other “pure freshman” and three-star recruit is the 7-foot-2 Majak, who averaged 11.4 points, 10 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots for Hamilton Southeastern near Indianapolis.

“He can help us right away," said Gates. “We know how to use big men. Mabor can block shots. He has a nice little jump hook. He comes from a strong high school program.”

Majak was ranked the 10th-best player in Indiana by MaxPreps.

Odds are all six players won’t finish their careers at CSU. Not in the world of college transfers. Nor will all of them make an impact.

“They have to prove it on the court,” said Gates.

The team had a 3.0 GPA in January with six players on the Dean’s List. Top scorer and rebounder Algevon Eichelberger turned down a chance to leave as a graduate transfer and is returning to play next season.

“I like the direction we’re going," said Garrett, hired as athletic director just over a year ago. “On paper, it’s a strong recruiting class and we want to continue to build with players of high character and solid academics. These kids seem to fit that mold.”

RECENT COLUMNS BY TERRY PLUTO

It’s money time for moneyball and Browns

Sixty years ago, Indians traded Rocky Colavito

How Mount Union’s Dane Brugler became an NFL draft expert.

Terry’s Talkin’ Browns: Andrew Berry’s big challenge.

Hey Terry, what about the Browns, Baker Mayfield and Tom Petty?

Terry Pluto wins national Headliner award

Browns Scribbles: Tackles are tackles

Here comes the NFL draft...no whining allowed from GMs!

Terry’s Talkin’ Browns: Is Kevin Stefanski being set up to succeed?

The search for someone to play left tackle for the Cleveland Browns

How Browns can (maybe) stop the run...Scribbles!

Does adding extra playoff team give hope to Browns?

Hey Terry, How about Puig, Salazar & the Tribe?

Terry’s Talkin’ Browns: Something ignored in pre-season hype

Should the NCAA replay the 2019-20 basketball season?

Case Keenum can still play, and that matters a lot

Browns Scribbles: Welcome to Hooper, Conklin & new offense.

A big recruit for Cleveland State basketball

The “amazing” career of St. Ignatius product Brian Hoyer continues.