On a different timeline, Deng Ngor and his family would have been on a plane headed west. For the weekend of Sept. 18, the four-star forward in the class of 2027 was scheduled to be on an official visit to Washington, one of three remaining such trips on his calendar.
After the Huskies, official visits Florida and Duke loomed for Ngor, a fast-rising prospect who added a host of high-major scholarship offers during the late spring and summer. There was just one problem, however: he’d already taken an official visit to Ohio State during the weekend of Sept. 4.
It was Ngor’s first visit, and it proved to be the only one he needed. On Sept. 17, the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Canadian forward from Fort Erie (Ontario) International Academy publicly announced
his commitment to the Buckeyes, passing on chances to check out his other three finalists.
“We were supposed to visit other big schools like Duke, but for our family it really felt right,” said Joseph Ngor, Deng’s father. “Security, academic support, small city, the community, the way we were treated there, there was nothing hidden from us, really.”
Leading into the Ohio State visit, Joseph Ngor said the family had been doing research on the program to better understand what the situation might be like once they got there. Included in that work was the continual relationship-building between the Ngors and the Ohio State coaching staff since the Buckeyes offered him a scholarship May 28. The Huskies, Gators and Blue Devils would all eventually follow suit, but Ohio State assistant coach Luke Simons quickly established a bond with the family that steadily grew leading into the visit.
All of that came together on the official visit, Joseph Ngor said.
“The coaches, we dined with their families,” he said. “As parents, that’s what we were looking for, and my kid thinks his career will really excel where he’s free. (Ohio State) gave him everything. He’s the main guy (they’re recruiting) at his position and everything seemed right, so instead of looking for other things we just said no and closed everything up.
“Luke is really great at connecting to the families. He’s made a relationship far more than basketball.”
When Ngor landed his Ohio State offer, he was unranked in the 247Sports.com database. After a strong spring and summer playing both AAU basketball and for Canada’s U18 team, he has climbed to No. 55 in the class of 2027 according to the website. Rivals.com, in its most recent rankings refresh, moved him up to No. 19 nationally.
According to Neilball.com, Deng Ngor has played in 44 games between his high school and the AAU circuit in the past year and averaged 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 52.8% from the field and 30.2% from 3-point range. During the spring and summer, he shot 34% from 3-point range while playing on the adidas circuit.
While helping Canada win a gold medal at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup, Deng Ngor averaged 10.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 37.5% (6 for 16) from 3-point range.
At Ohio State, Joseph Ngor said the coaches view him as a likely replacement for five-star freshman forward Anthony Thompson, who is widely projected as a first-round NBA draft prospect.
“He’s a wing and a free shooter,” he said. “The guy that’s playing there now is projected to go to the NBA. That’s what Jake (Diebler) was telling me, and so they said that he’s the main guy for (them). His style of play fits their program, so they’re going to adjust some things but he’s going to play his style because that’s (also) Ohio State’s style.”
Once the returned home from their Ohio State visit, Joseph Ngor said it felt like just a matter of time before they would commit to the Buckeyes.
“From the first day we visited, we left on (Sept. 6) and we were positive that is the one we were looking for,” Joseph Ngor said. “We were talking to those (other) coaches who really wanted us to consider them. We were telling them positive things about our visit and they were saying, ‘You’re going to see that when you get to our campus. It’s going to be pretty much the same, if not better.’
“I had some mixed feelings like, maybe we should just visit all of these schools and pick one later. Then the other part of me said if you do that, you’re going to get more confused.”
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardyor on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Ohio State landed Deng Ngor before Duke, Florida could host visits
