The Ohio State basketball team secured a commitment from Class of 2026 forward Alex Smith Monday. Smith is playing his high school ball at Upper Arlington in Columbus but doesn’t have a star ranking per 247Sports.
However, Smith did have offers from in-state teams like Kent State and Cincinnati along with Xavier, Nebraska, Bryant, and Indiana, so a plethora of Division 1 programs were in the hunt for him. Smith released his official commitment on X Monday afternoon.
Smith joins Marcus Johnson as the two Class of 2026 commits set to play in Columbus. Johnson is a four-star point guard from Cleveland Ohio, the second-best player in the state of Ohio. Western Reserve Academy’s Anthony Thompson is the best player from the state in the class and is still undecided.
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The Buckeyes have signed Dorian Jones, though. He is the state’s top commit in the Class of 2025, so the Buckeyes have been doing a relatively good job at keeping the in-state talent local.
Smith is a name to keep in mind as Ohio State looks to build out its recruiting talent well into the future. Behind Jake Diebler, the Buckeyes had a strong 2023-24 season, finishing 22-14 and 9-11 in Big Ten play.