With five-star point guard DJ Carton's commitment on Saturday afternoon, the Buckeyes now have two top-30 commits for the first time since they signed D'Angelo Russell and Keita Bates-Diop in the 2014 class.
Carton joined already-committed four-star forward Alonzo Gaffney, giving Ohio State the top recruiting class in the Big Ten and the fourth-best class in the nation. Both players are enormously talented, and it seems like it's been quite a while since the Buckeyes have brought in players of this caliber.
With these two recent additions, we look back at Ohio State's top-five highest-rated basketball recruits of the past 10 years and get an idea of where Carton and Gaffney stack up as of now.
5. Shannon Scott – 2011
- No. 35 Overall
- No. 7 Point Guard
- 0.9860 Composite Rating
Many Buckeye fans lament the fact that Ohio State signed Shannon Scott and missed on Columbus native Trey Burke, but Scott was a much higher rated player coming out of high school by every recruiting service and is actually one of the five highest-rated Buckeyes signed in the past 10 years.
Scott was the No. 35 player in the 2011 class coming out of high school, and the nation's No. 7 point guard. He was a McDonald's All-American and Georgia's Mr. Basketball. He never quite lit the world on fire and was outshined by Aaron Craft and D'Angelo Russell throughout his time at Ohio State, but Scott still had a fine Buckeye career.
He was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team twice in his career and averaged 5.5 points, 1.5 steals and 3.7 assists per game.
4. Keita Bates-Diop – 2014
- No. 29 Overall
- No. 8 Small Forward
- 0.9884 Composite Rating
Keita Bates-Diop was a top-30 player coming out of high school, but it took until his fourth season at Ohio State for him to finally play up to his potential.
Bates-Diop was solid his first two seasons at Ohio State and was probably the team's top player as a junior before an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season, but his fourth season was by far his best.
His final season in Columbus, Bates-Diop averaged nearly 20 points a game, shooting 48 percent from the field. He also averaged a career-high 8.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, earning him Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus second-team All-American honors.
3. Deshaun Thomas – 2010
- No. 19 Overall
- No. 5 Power Forward
- 0.9930 Composite Rating
Deshaun Thomas was one of the most dominant players in the country coming out of high school, and he took that dominance with him to Columbus, particularly on the offensive end.
Thomas was a five-star prospect coming out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. A McDonald's All-American coming out of high school, he was the nation's No. 5 power forward and the No. 19 overall player in the country.
At Ohio State, Thomas became a force, particularly on the offensive end. His final season, he averaged 19.8 points per game along with 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Thomas was an integral part of both the 2012 Final Four team and the 2013 Elite Eight squad before he elected to forgo his senior season of eligibility to play professionally overseas.
2. D'Angelo Russell – 2014
- No. 16 Overall
- No. 5 Shooting Guard
- 0.9932 Composite Rating
D'Angelo Russell is Ohio State's only one-and-done player of the last decade.
Russell arrived at Ohio State as a five-star McDonald's All-American guard rated as the No. 16 player in the country. Though he only played one season at Ohio State, it's safe to say he even exceeded those lofty expectations.
His lone season in Columbus, Russell was consensus All-American, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and won the Jerry West Award, given annually to the nation's top shooting guard.
Russell declared for the draft following his freshman season and was drafted No. 2 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers.
1. Jared Sullinger – 2010
- No. 4 Overall
- No. 1 Power Forward
- 0.9990 Composite Rating
The highest-rated recruit Ohio State has signed in the past 10 years: Jared Sullinger.
Coming out of high school, five-star Sullinger was the nation's top power forward and the No. 4 overall player in the country with a composite recruit rating of 0.9990. He was a McDonald's All-American and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year.
Sullinger was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country, but thankfully for the Buckeyes, he went to school less than 10 miles from Ohio State's campus and Thad Matta was able to keep him home.
Sullinger played just two years at Ohio State, but was named the national freshman of the year, was a two-time consensus All-American and helped lead the Buckeyes to the Final Four his sophomore season.
Carton and Gaffney are the nation's No. 21 and 30 players respectively and would make this top-five list at their current ratings.
Carton would sit just behind Thomas at No. 4 with a composite rating of 0.9923 while Gaffney would exactly tie Keita Bates-Diop at No. 5, as both have a composite rating of 0.9884.
Based on the players near them on that list, they're in pretty good company.
