Ohio State Buckeyes Land Commitment From Intriguing Power Forward

The Ohio State Buckeyes have added another intriguing piece to their 2026 basketball recruiting class.

Jul 9, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler leads a summer workout in the practice gym at the Schottenstein Center. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Ohio State Buckeyes are working hard to turn their baskeball program back into a contender.

Head coach Jake Diebler has brought a lot of hope to the program and has started recruiting hard to turn his team around.

On Monday, Ohio State received a new commitment. Alex Smith, a 6-foot-8 power forward in the 2026 recruiting class, announced that he would be committing to the Buckeyes.

I want to thank my family and everyone who supported me through this process. That being said I will be committing to THE Ohio State University! Go bucks❤️🩶 pic.twitter.com/WXlvDbwEyH

— alex smith (@alexx_smith26) September 2, 2024

Smith opened up a bit about his commitment and made it clear that Diebler had a big part to play in convincing him to join Ohio State.

“I have had a long relationship with Diebler and a great connection. They have supported me a ton and have been straight up to me about things and I think that’s really hard to find in a program. There’s a ton I could speak on but that, plus the school being 15 minutes away from me, just all puts the pieces together.”

Hailing from Upper Arlington, Smith received his offer from the Buckeyes during the summer. He had put together a strong showing at the team's camp. Ohio State was competing with another Big Ten offer from the Indiana Hoosiers.

The young forward opened up a bit more about how all of his recruiting thoughts ended up having him think about playing for Ohio State.

“Everything just kind of clicked. When I would think about recruiting, I would think about Ohio State. I realized this is where I wanted to play, so I saw no reason to wait.”

While Smith is currently unranked, the Buckeyes are very high on his ability. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact he can have for Ohio State in the years to come.