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- Thread starter brodybuck21
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
Can we put this kid on our 'travel squad' and get him into the B10's? A seat from the bench is always helpful. Probably violates more than several NCAA rules, but seem to recollect that the football team could have recruits visit/watch bowl games, in say Florida? Or is my mind remembering things that didn't happen? Or is my 'leap of faith' memory of football, not carrying over to basketball?
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
You’re Nuts: With LJ Smith reclassified, which 2027 recruit will Ohio State turn to?
With LJ Smith reclassifying to 2026, the Buckeyes do not currently have a 2027 commitment.
www.landgrantholyland.com
It was a big week in Ohio State basketball land, with 2027 five-star guard LJ Smith announcing that he was reclassifying to the 2026 class and enrolling at Ohio State for the fall. He joined the team this week for practice, and is expected to finish up the necessary coursework this summer to get his high school degree and start college classes this fall.
While the 17-year old is not expected to lock down a starting role this season, he gives Ohio State another talented backcourt piece, and has (maybe) the highest overall ceiling of anyone on the 2026-27 roster.
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
OK Diebs, use him gently. Get him some court time, and avoid throwing him into the deep end too quickly. this kids sounds like someone to nurture to bring him out of his HS shell, and onto the D1 ranks. will enjoy watching him progress along his path. Diebs is developing an excellent core, along with sophomore Bynum, and hopefully this continues....
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
LJ Smith Ready to Play College Basketball, Confident He’ll Make Immediate Impact at Ohio State After Reclassification
LJ Smith reclassified because he “was just ready to come get better at the college level,” and Jake Diebler expects the five-star freshman guard to “impact winning” right away.
LJ Smith Ready to Play College Basketball, Confident He’ll Make Immediate Impact at Ohio State After Reclassification
LJ Smith is looking to accelerate his development by enrolling at Ohio State one year early.
The five-star guard was originally a member of the 2027 recruiting class when he committed to the Buckeyes in November. Last month, however, Smith decided to reclassify into the 2026 class and become a Buckeye this year after completing his high school education early.
Smith, who played for one of the nation’s top high school basketball programs at Oak Hill Academy last season, felt like he would gain more by starting his Ohio State career this season rather than playing another year of high school basketball.
“I was just ready to come get better at the college level and develop my game,” Smith said last week in his first interview session since arriving at Ohio State. “During the winter, I was just worried about school ball at the time at Oak Hill, just staying in ’27. Spring came around, playing AAU ball, I felt like I was done with high school, ready to go to college. So I'm hoping to get better there.”
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said conversations with Smith about a potential reclassification started at the end of his junior season at Oak Hill, but the Buckeyes felt at the time that Smith would benefit from staying in high school for his senior year. After a strong AAU season this spring, however, Ohio State decided that Smith would be able to help the team in 2026-27 and reinitiated those conversations.
“There had been some conversations even going back to, I'll call it, towards the end of his high school season that, ‘Hey, this could be a possibility.’ It was initiated by them. We had some initial conversations. Then it really kind of shifted to, ‘Hey, we think maybe that's not best right now,’” Diebler said after Smith’s reclassification in June. “So those conversations started happening again later in the spring, and we watched him in Memphis with his AAU team and felt like he could come in, have an impact, add value to the roster as it had formed.
“In order for this to work, everybody had to be on the same page. And so it just took kind of a transparent dialogue to get to that point. And once we realized everybody was on the same page, ‘Hey, this is good for him, it's good for us,’ then it was, ‘All right, how do we get this done?’”
“I was just ready to come get better at the college level and develop my game.”– LJ Smith on enrolling at Ohio State a year early
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