Ohio State hoops to host multiple high-profile recruits for weekend visits

Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch

Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 6:07 AM·6 min read

A top-10 football showdown inside Ohio Stadium this weekend will also be a showcase recruiting event for the Ohio State men’s basketball program.

As the Buckeyes prepare for Sunday’s charity exhibition game at Dayton, they are also planning to host at least 10 recruits in the 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes before the football team hosts Penn State for a noon kickoff. The Buckeyes have two players committed for the 2024 class in Mount Pleasant (Utah) Wasatch Academy guard John “Juni” Mobley Jr. and Ottawa (Ohio) Ottawa-Glandorf wing Colin White.

While it’s possible Ohio State could still add one more player in that class, the main focus has been on the 2025 and 2026 classes. That will be reflected by the group of recruits expected to be in Columbus checking out what the Buckeyes have to offer.

Here’s the list of who is expected to be on campus this weekend. All visits are unofficial visits. Players are listed alphabetically.

Niko Bundalo

A top-25 prospect and major Big Ten target in the 2025 class, the 6-11, 195-pound power forward from Hudson (Ohio) Western Reserve Academy has landed offers from Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue Rutgers, UCLA, Notre Dame and many others.

He visited Ohio State during the summer and recently visited Michigan State. He is the No. 1 prospect in Ohio according to 247Sports., which ranks him No. 23 nationally and as the No. 6 power forward.

Brayden Burries

The 6-5, 200-pound shooting guard from San Bernardino (California) Eleanor Roosevelt is the No. 12 player in the nation and a four-star prospect in the 2025 class according to 247Sports. He spent time this summer training with Team USA and holds offers from Duke, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Texas, USC and more than a dozen others have also offered.

Marcus Johnson

Ohio’s top prospect in the class of 2026 according to 247Sports, the 6-1, 175-pound guard from Garfield Heights will be on his second Ohio State visit of the year. Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann and associate coach Jake Diebler visited his school earlier this month.

ESPN ranks him as the No. 12 national player and a five-star prospect in his class. He also visited Cincinnati this fall and is scheduling a visit to Kentucky. Ohio State has offered, and he called the Buckeyes his "dream school" after his last visit.

Malachi Moreno

A four-star center prospect in the 2025 class, the 7-1, 210-pound Moreno landed his first offer from Ohio University and also holds offers now from Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, USC and several others. Moreno has taken visits to Iowa, Tennessee, and Notre Dame this fall.

Moreno is from Georgetown (Kentucky) Great Crossing and is ranked No. 31 in the nation, No. 3 at his position and the No. 1 prospect in Kentucky according to 247Sports.com.

He has visited Ohio State before.

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Darryn Peterson

One of the nation’s top prospects regardless of class, the 6-5, 195-pound guard averaged 26.1 points per game as a freshman and 31.7 as a sophomore while finishing as a finalist for Ohio Mr. Basketball honors at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Now a five-star prospect in the class of 2025, Peterson will play his junior year at Huntington (West Virginia) Prep. He’s listed as a shooting guard by most recruiting services but is growing as a point guard as well.

He is the first player in the class of 2025 to land an offer from Ohio State, and it arrived before he had played a single game as a freshman. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 3 national prospect in his class and the top shooting guard in the nation. In early September, ESPN national recruiting director Paul Biancardi listed him as the No. 6 prospect regardless of class.

Peterson has visited Ohio State before.

Eric Reibe

A 7-0, 235-pound center from Potomac (Maryland) The Bullis School, Reibe is a three-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings for the 2025 class. He is the No. 131 national prospect and the No. 25 power forward prospect.

Maryland, Iowa, Kansas, Georgetown, Butler, Xavier, Clemson and others have offered. Reibe took official visits to Harvard and Iowa this fall and is expected to take one to Purdue next month.

Anthony Thompson

A 6-6 shooting guard, Thompson is an unranked prospect in the 2026 class from Lebanon, Ohio. He recently participated in the 2023 CP3 Rising Stars camp, where he was made the 2026 top 20 all-star game. Kent State and Ohio are known to have offered.

In August, PrepHoopsOH ranked him as the No. 5 Ohioan in his class.

Landon Vanderwarker

After two seasons at Westerville Northside Christian, the 6-7, 200-pound power forward has transferred to Delaware Hayes this year. He took an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech last weekend and one to Notre Dame in late September. He’s known to hold offers from Ohio University, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, VCU and Furman, and he has visited Ohio State on multiple occasions and also worked out with former player Evan Turner.

Vanderwarker posted a photo with Diebler after a late September workout. He is unranked in the 247Sports database.

EJ Walker

A 6-8, 220-pound power forward from Erlanger (Kentucky) Lloyd, Walker recently landed offers from Butler and South Carolina and took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame in early September. He is a three-star prospect ranked No. 116 nationally by 247Sports in the class of 2025. In the 247Sports composite rankings, he is a four-star prospect but ranked No. 126 nationally.

Walker visited Ohio State for a basketball game last season and left with a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes.

Antoine West

A 6-3, 175-pound shooting guard in the 2025 class, West plays for Toledo Whitmer and earned first-team all-state honors in Division I after averaging 21.5 points per game last season. He landed offers from Nebraska, Penn State, Dayton, Xavier, Arizona State, Ohio during the summer and recently added one from Georgia. He’s unranked in the 247Sports database but ESPN lists him as a four-star prospect and the No. 5 player from Ohio in his class.