Hoops Recruiting: How are Ohio State signees, verbals faring this season?
We look at Ohio State's 2025 signees and 2026 verbals plus have other notes.
Below, we will look at how these four players have been faring this season and also share some other notables including the new postseason format in Ohio.
2025 SIGNEES
* A'mare Bynum, 6-9, forward, Branson (Mo.) Link Year Academy – Bynum is ranked No. 47 nationally and as the nation's No. 12 power forward, according to 247Sports.com. He is a native of Omaha, Neb., and moved to Link Year for his senior season.
Unfortunately, his senior was cut short due to injury. Sources indicated it is not expected to be a longterm injury and Bynum should be fine by the time he enrolls at OSU in June. He played in seven of the team's 11 games on the EYBL Scholastic circuit. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds playing against some of the nation's top prep school teams. He had 19 points and six rebounds in an early season game against La Lumiere School.
Bynum verbaled to Ohio State on Oct. 23, 2024. He also considered Xavier, LSU, Colorado and Iowa among others.
* Dorian Jones, 6-5, guard, Richmond Heights, Ohio – Jones is ranked as the nation's No. 84 prospect and No. 14 shooting guard, according to 247Sports.com. He is trying to lead Richmond Heights to a fourth straight state championship and would be the first player to start on four straight state title teams.
Jones was named as the co-player of the year in the Division V Northeast Lakes District. Jones is averaging 17 points with 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 steals for the Spartans. He missed some time this season due to illness. Richmond Heights has found another level offensively, beating Akron Buchtel, Lakewood St. Edward and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's down the stretch.
Jones had 17 points in his team's 77-59 win over Canton Central Catholic in a Division V regional semifinal on Wednesday. The Spartans (17-9) will face Cleveland Heights Lutheran East in a regional championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
Jones verbaled to Ohio State on June 1, 2024. He picked OSU over Rutgers, Missouri, Michigan and others.
2026 VERBALS
* Marcus Johnson, 6-2, guard, Garfield Heights, Ohio – Johnson is the cousin of Meechie Johnson Jr., who was a senior guard on this year's Ohio State team before he took a leave of absence in mid-December. Marcus Johnson is ranked as the nation's No. 36 prospect overall and No. 7 point guard for the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.com.
Johnson was a Mr. Basketball finalist last year as a sophomore. He is having an even better year as a junior. He was named as the Division III Northeast Lakes District player of the year, earning a district player of the year honor for the second year in a row.
He led the Bulldogs (22-2) to a third straight Lake Erie League championship and top overall seed in the Northeast District tournaments for Division III. Garfield Heights defeated Parma Padua Franciscan 64-41 in a regional semifinal Tuesday. Johnson had 33 points in that win. They will face Akron Hoban (and top OSU football offensive line target Sam Greer) in a regional championship game Friday at 7 p.m. at Medina High School.
As a junior, Johnson averaged 29.7 points with 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.2 steals. He had 38 points in a half in a game against Avon Lake and a school-record 55 points against Maple Heights. His father, Sonny Johnson, is the district coach of the year in Division III.
Johnson verbaled to Ohio State on April 10, 2024, just days after Jake Diebler was elevated to the fulltime head coaching job. Johnson picked the Buckeyes over Alabama, Illinois, Villanova and many others. Johnson was the top scorer on the Nike EYBL 16-U circuit last year and will be back with Indy Heat on the 17-U circuit this spring and summer.
* Alex Smith, 6-9, forward, Upper Arlington, Ohio – Smith is ranked as the No. 139 prospect overall nationally and No. 26 power forward in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.com. As a junior, he has helped lead the Golden Bears (14-9) to a berth in the Division I regional semifinals. Upper Arlington will face Olentangy Liberty at 8 p.m. tonight at the Ohio Expo Center. The winner will advance to a regional final Saturday at 6 p.m.
Smith is averaging 19.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He is hitting 49 percent of his shots, 34 percent of his threes and 65 percent of his free throws.
Smith verbaled to Ohio State on Sept. 2, 2024. He picked OSU over Cincinnati, Indiana, Xavier and others.
*Lutheran East junior forward TJ Crumble is one of Ohio State's top targets in the 2026 class.
Lutheran East junior forward TJ Crumble is one of Ohio State's top targets in the 2026 class. The 6-8 Crumble, who boasts a 4.2 GPA, spent his freshman year at Lutheran East before transferring to Richmond Heights for his sophomore year. He is back at Lutheran East and, as noted above, those teams will play Friday in a regional final for a spot in the Division V state final four.
Crumble shared the district player of the year award with Richmond Heights' Dorian Jones. He has averaged 26.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He had 28 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots in a tournament win over London Basketball Academy. He then had 30 points, 18 rebounds and two steals in a tournament win over Ravenna Southeast. Lutheran East is 22-4 going into the game with Richmond Heights.
Crumble is ranked as the No. 83 prospect nationally and No. 17 small forward in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.com. Besides Ohio State, he has offers from Arizona State, Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Wisconsin and others.
He figures to be with the Phenom United 17-U team on the adidas circuit this spring and summer.
) very well off, I'll say the only chance any school other than Syracuse has is to offer significantly more NIL money than Syracuse offers and that may not even get him. It was reported that his father donated $3M to Syracuse basketball towards a new practice facility which is named after him.
