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Here's what you need to know about five-star Ohio State signee Anthony Thompson
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- Here's what you need to know about five-star Ohio State signee Anthony Thompson
Ohio State is in the process of signing the second recruiting class of the Jake Diebler era, and on Nov. 12 forward Anthony Thompson became the Buckeyes' first five-star signee in more than a decade.
Thompson inked on the opening day of the early signing period for men's college basketball. That window remains open for one week. After that, high school players must wait until April 15 to officially sign with a college.
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In the early signing period, Ohio State had two players set to sign: Thompson and four-star forward Alex Smith . The two are likely to be the only ones signing with Ohio State during the early period.
College coaches can't publicly comment on recruits until they are signed, but Ohio State coach Jake Diebler spoke generally about the 2026 class earlier in the week.
"In general, without talking about anybody specific, I feel great," he said Nov. 10 . "I think this has the makings to be a great week for Ohio State basketball and look forward to talking about that stuff in a few days."
It's unclear if Ohio State will then add anyone else in its 2026 class other than Thompson and Smith.
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Here's what you need to know about the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Thompson, who is from Lebanon, Ohio, who is playing within the state at Hudson Western Reserve Academy.
Where is Anthony Thompson ranked?
According to 247Sports.com, Thompson is a five-star small forward ranked No. 7 nationally overall, No. 2 at his position and No. 1 in Ohio.
ESPN ranks him as a five-star prospect, the No. 13 player in his class, the No. 6 small forward in the country and the No. 1 player in Ohio.
The 247Sports composite ranks him as the No. 8 national prospect, No. 2 small forward and No. 1 Ohioan in the class. According to nbadraftroom.com, Thompson is a projected top-10 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft .
When did Anthony Thompson commit to Ohio State?
On Oct. 21, Thompson announced that he had picked Ohio State ahead of Indiana and a handful of other finalists. He had narrowed his list to six schools : North Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Texas and Kentucky. Once a week, starting Aug. 22, he took an official visit to those schools in that order, and his final decision came down to the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers.
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"He did such a good job, because it's not like he came back from every visit like, 'I'm ready to go to Ohio State,' or, 'I'm ready to go to Indiana or Texas,' " Western Reserve Academy coach Matt Garvey said. "He's not overly impressionable. He would take notes on his flight home, drive home from each visit, really dissect every visit, sleep on it, think about it, and then he journaled throughout the process. That helped him collect his thoughts and get him to arrive at his decision."
He is the first five-star Ohio State commitment since Jared Sullinger in 2010, according to the 247Sports rankings.
What did Jake Diebler say about Anthony Thompson?
Where is Ohio State's 2026 class ranked nationally?
At the start of the early signing period, Ohio State's class with Thompson and Smith was ranked No. 31 nationally in the 247Sports composite. According to On3/Rivals, the class is ranked No. 6 nationally. ESPN has it 20th nationally.
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Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @ cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @ AdamJardy .
This story was updated to correct for an inaccuracy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State officially signs Anthony Thompson in 2026 recruiting class
