The Ohio State basketball team lands first big-time recruit of the Jake Diebler era

Chris Holtmann was a solid recruiter while he was with the Ohio State basketball program. He seemed to land some pretty good talent while he was the coach. Yet, he was never able to sign a five-star recruit in the seven-plus years that he was with the Buckeyes.

That's something that his successor has already done just weeks into getting the full-time gig. Jake Diebler has just landed his first five-star recruit and it's an in-state prospect. Marcus Johnson out of Garfield Heights High School in Cleveland has committed to the Buckeyes.

Johnson is the cousin of Meechie Johnson, who just transferred back to the Ohio State basketball program after a couple of years away at South Carolina. That certainly helped in Diebler's effort to land the highly-touted prospect. It's nice to have that family connection.

Johnson stands at 6'1 and 175 pounds, so he's not the biggest point guard out there. That doesn't mean he's not really good. He still has some great handles to get by defenders and has a really nice shot. He should be a really good player for the Buckeyes once he gets there.

It will take a couple of years for Johnson to get there too as he is in the class of 2026. He still has a couple of years of high school to grow and improve. Diebler will certainly be looking to add some other recruits in that class to join him in Columbus.

The question after Diebler got the job was whether or not he was going to be able to recruit. We saw that he could coach after the run the team made after he was hired in mid-February. Being a first-time head coach, the question was recruiting He answered that question pretty quickly.

Landing a five-star recruit is the best way to start your first offseason as a head coach. Diebler should only get better from here too.