Upper Arlington (Ohio) 2026 power forward prospect Alex Smith has committed to Ohio State.
The 6-9 Smith confirmed he committed during a weekend unofficial visit to OSU for the season-opening football game against Akron.
He joins Garfield Heights guard Marcus Johnson as a commitment to OSU’s 2026 class.
Here is his public announcement from Twitter:
I want to thank my family and everyone who supported me through this process. That being said I will be committing to THE Ohio State University! Go bucks❤️? pic.twitter.com/WXlvDbwEyH
— alex smith (@alexx_smith26) September 2, 2024
Things started happening for Smith in February, when he visited Indiana and received an offer. He also had offers from Cincinnati, Nebraska and Xavier. Ohio State came in with its offer after his team’s appearance at the OSU team camp in June.
Smith was one of the standout players this spring for the Midwest Basketball Club 16-U team on the adidas circuit. In fact, he made his visit to Ohio State with another one of his Midwest Basketball Club teammates in Hilliard Bradley 2027 guard Ben Mirgon. Canton native Darryn Peterson, a top-five prospect in the 2025 class, was also at Ohio State this past weekend for an official visit. Peterson is now attending Prolific Prep in California.
Smith averaged 14.5 points per game in his sophomore year at Upper Arlington, which ended up 12-12 overall. Ohio State had a commitment from Upper Arlington in 2017, but guard Dane Goodwin switched to Notre Dame after Chris Holtmann replaced Thad Matta as the OSU coach.
Smith is not ranked currently by 247Sports.com. He is Ohio’s No. 3 prospect in the 2026 class, according to PrepHoops.com. He is behind Western Reserve Academy forward Anthony Thompson (Lebanon native) and Garfield Heights guard Marcus Johnson (an Ohio State commit) and just ahead of Cleveland Heights Lutheran East forward TJ Crumble, who have all also been offered by the Buckeyes.
Below is our interview with Smith.
