Ohio State has landed Ohio’s top prospect in the 2026 recruiting class.
Five-star point guard Marcus Johnson, the No. 4 point guard and No. 24 overall prospect in the 2026 recruiting class, announced his commitment to Ohio State on Wednesday.
Johnson is the No. 1-ranked prospect in the state of Ohio for the 2026 cycle, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
The Johnson File
- Class: 2026
- Size: 6-1/175
- Pos: Point Guard
- School: Garfield Heights (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★★
- Composite Rank: #24 (#4 PG)
The Garfield Heights star is the cousin of Meechie Johnson, who announced his return to Ohio State earlier this month for his final season of collegiate eligibility after spending two years at South Carolina as a transfer.
Johnson chose Ohio State over a list of offers that includes Alabama, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Illinois, LSU, Oklahoma, Villanova and West Virginia, among others.
He becomes the first player to commit to Ohio State in the 2026 recruiting class and the first high school commitment for new head coach Jake Diebler. Johnson pulled the trigger before any 2025 recruits even pledged to the Buckeyes.
Johnson earned his offer from the Buckeyes on May 1, 2023 after former head coach Chris Holtmann, Diebler and others were blown away by the then-freshman's performance on Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League circuit. Johnson shot 47% from three.
Still two years out from when he'd arrive in Columbus, Johnson is the first player in either the 247Sports or ESPN rankings for the class of 2026 – rankings that are fairly sparse at this stage – to pledge his services to a school.
He attended a few games in Value City Arena after Diebler took over for Holtmann, including his debut upset victory over then-No. 2 Purdue.
Despite being just a sophomore, Johnson was named the 2023-24 Ohio High School Basketball Player of the Year by MaxPreps and the Division I All-Ohio Player of the Year by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association. He averaged 23.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range as he led Garfield Heights to a 25-2 record and the Division I state quarterfinals this season.
