The Ohio State basketball program looked like they were off to a great start on the recruiting front under Jake Diebler. Diebler was promoted to head coach after the Buckeyes decided to fire Chris Holtmann. The Buckeyes started off with a bang on the recruiting front when Diebler landed a commitment from Marcus Johnson.
Johnson was a five-star recruit at the time that he committed to the Buckeyes in April of 2024, and it looked like Diebler was on a good start to rebuilding the program. He was expected to come in next season and battle for the starting point guard spot with Bruce Thornton gone.
That will no longer be the case. Just a week after the Ohio State Buckeyes landed a five-star frontcourt recruit, Johnson has decided that he won't be playing basketball in Columbus next season. Instead, the Cleveland native has made the choice to de-commit from Ohio State.
Ohio State basketball program loses four-star recruit Marcus Johnson
Johnson decided to de-commit from the Buckeyes just 16 days before Signing Day, which is certainly interesting. There's a chance that the point guard got a massive NIL deal from a rival school to poach him. That is something that is going to become more common.
Johnson leaving Ohio State leaves the Buckeyes with just two recruits for the 2026 recruiting class. They did have a top-ten recruiting class before he made this choice. Now, they have fallen to 27th. This could mean that Diebler is going to have to keep using the Transfer Portal to add to his roster.
The point guard spot certainly has a void next season. It's also unlikely that Ohio State is going to be able to replace him this late in the class, unless they are able to get one of the G-League guys. That could also be another reason that Johnson decided to de-commit from the Buckeyes.