Ohio State has sent plenty of talent to the NBA, but very few Buckeyes have heard their names called near the top of the draft.
Greg Oden went No. 1 overall in 2007, Evan Turner and D’Angelo Russell went No. 2, while Dennis Hopson and Larry Siegfried were both No. 3 picks. Mike Conley Jr., Jim Jackson and Kelvin Ransey each went No. 4 as well.
That is the company Anthony Thompson is entering Ohio State with, and there is a legitimate argument that the freshman could eventually join it.
Thompson arrives
in Columbus as one of the most highly touted recruits in program history. The Lebanon, Ohio, native was a consensus five-star prospect and was ranked No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in Ohio by 247Sports. He also became Ohio State’s first McDonald’s All-American since D’Angelo Russell in 2014. And the production backs up the recruiting hype.
As a senior at Western Reserve Academy, Thompson averaged 24.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from three. On the Adidas 3SSB circuit, he averaged 22.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.6 steals, while shooting 53 percent overall and 39 percent from three.
For me, the biggest reason Thompson has a chance to climb this high isn’t simply how much he scored in high school. It’s what he looks like while doing it.
Ohio State now lists Thompson at 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds with a massive 7-foot-3 wingspan. He’s a left-handed forward who can shoot over the top of defenders with an unusually high release, create from the mid-range and increasingly put pressure on the rim as well. He has fantastic fluiditly and movement ability for someone of his size and frame, and his length also gives him legitimate defensive playmaking upside.
That combination is exactly what makes his NBA projection so interesting. He isn’t simply a tall shooter, nor is he simply a long athlete. He has the potential to become a scoring wing who can operate at multiple levels while defending multiple positions.
The freshman season will tell us everything
The opportunity should be there immediately. Jake Diebler has already said Ohio State expects Thompson to play a major role, and my projected depth chart has him starting at small forward.
Thompson also enters a roster that should give him plenty of opportunities to play alongside established talent like John Mobley Jr., Justin Pippen and Amare Bynum rather than having to carry the entire offense himself.
We’ve already gotten a small glimpse of what that could look like. In Ohio State’s August exhibitions in Puerto Rico, Thompson produced 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 18:47 against Los Boris 1, then followed with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and a block in 20:49 against Los Boris 2.
Those games obviously don’t carry the weight of the regular season, but they offered an encouraging early look at his ability to contribute across the box score.
The biggest question is whether Thompson can turn all of that talent into consistent college production. The NBA scouting reports are already fairly bullish. Sports Illustrated projected him in the top five to ten range entering the season and described him as a potential scoring forward, while another SI draft piece suggested that if he can add rebounding, passing and defense to his scoring, he could push himself into the top three.
Current draft boards have similarly placed him around the top of the lottery, with Tankathon currently ranking him No. 6 and Bleacher Report also placing him No. 6.
That’s why a huge freshman season could completely change this conversation. If Thompson becomes a reliable double-digit scorer, shoots efficiently, holds his own defensively and shows that he can create more consistently off the dribble, suddenly the discussion isn’t just about whether he’s a lottery pick. It becomes about how high he can go.
For Thompson to seriously challenge Ohio State’s all-time top three, I think at minumum he’d have to be competing for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The scoring will obviously matter, but the bigger evaluation will be whether the rest of his game catches up to the shot-making. Because the ceiling is already obvious.
A 6-foot-9 left-handed scorer with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, elite shot-making and legitimate defensive playmaking is an extremely intriguing NBA archetype. And considering Thompson is only 18 and is still physically developing, there is reason to believe there could be another level coming.
Maybe Thompson doesn’t become the next No. 1 or No. 2 pick in Ohio State history. That’s an enormous bar. But if everything clicks in Columbus this season, a top-five selection, and potentially a place among the three highest-drafted Buckeyes ever, is absolutely within the range of outcomes.
