Ohio State offers Shaker Heights boys basketball junior forward Esa Ahmad

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State made a scholarship offer to Shaker Heights junior Esa Ahmad on Thursday, according to Ahmad's father, Ibrahim Ahmad. Esa and his father were on an unofficial visit at Ohio State that day.

The Buckeyes became the 19th school to make an offer to Ahmad, and the third this week (see Ahmad's recruiting timeline here). Other offers from Big Ten schools include Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Penn State and Rutgers.

Ahmad is ranked 51st nationally in the ESPN Class of 2015 rankings and was named as cleveland.com's Player of the Year last month after leading the Raiders in points (26.5), rebounds (11.5), assists (3.5), blocks (2) and steals (2) per game. He was named Player of the Year for the Northeast Lakes District and Associated Press for Division I statewide.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta was in attendance this past weekend when Ahmad and his All-Ohio Red AAU team played in Sacramento, Calif. Matta had previously visited Ahmad at Shaker Heights on April 10.

In the three games Ahmad played in California, he averaged 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Coaches from Kentucky and Arizona were also among those in attendance.

Ahmad plans to narrow his list of schools at the beginning of the summer and make a final decision before his senior season begins.

In the first installment of cleveland.com's behind-the-scenes recruiting series of Ahmad and St. Edward junior Kipper Nichols, Ahmad said that when deciding which school to attend, playing time, coaching staff, the players and style of play will influence his decision.

The trip to Ohio State on Thursday was the second time Ahmad had taken an unofficial visit to the Buckeyes' campus. He had previously been there in March of 2013.

Ahmad and his father said they plan to schedule several visits to other schools during the next few months that will help aid in the decision.

Contact high school sports reporter David Cassilo by email (dcassilo@cleveland.com) or Twitter (@dcassilo). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.

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