Ohio State basketball: Could Buckeyes be in the mix for this top-ten recruit?

This college basketball offseason is something that we’ve never seen before with a record amount of players in the transfer portal, and top freshman backing out of their commitments to play somewhere else. The Ohio State basketball team has already made noise in the transfer portal, and they could be in the mix for a top-ten freshman that’s now available.

Five-star Mackenzie Mgbako has requested a release from his National Letter of Intent from Duke to reopen his recruitment. Mgbako is the No. 7 overall player in the 2023 class, and the No. 2 power forward according to 247Sports.

Ohio State was originally in the running to land the talented forward before signing with Duke, along with Kentucky and Memphis. Now that Mgbako is opening his recruitment up again, Ohio State could get back in the mix to land him.

Mgbako is one of the top freshmen in the 2023 class that will have a lot of big-time power conference schools reaching out to him. The competition for Ohio State to land him will be very tough if they want to get involved.

The only obstacle keeping Holtmann and the Buckeyes from getting involved with Mgbako is the unknown status of Brice Sensabaugh. On March 25th Sensabaugh declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, but he still has the option to return to Ohio State for another season.

If Sensabaugh comes back for his sophomore season, there will be no scholarship spots left to give out. So if he decides to keep his name in the NBA Draft process, that opens up a roster spot Holtmann can use to try and land Mgbako.

Ohio State already has the No. 8 recruiting class for 2023 and is returning a lot of key pieces from last season’s team. The highly skilled forward would be a massive addition, but it’s uncertain that Holtmann will get involved with the Mgbako recruitment.

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