One member of Ohio State basketball's two-man 2025 recruiting class is delaying his entry to the collegiate ranks.
Four-star guard Dorian Jones will not enroll at Ohio State for 2025-26. Instead, he will take a year to develop on and off the court before starting his journey at the next level, he announced Friday in a since-deleted post on Instagram. A source close to the Buckeyes' program confirmed to Eleven Warriors that Jones would be enrolling at a prep school or junior college next year.
"As I reflect on my development, this next year is an opportunity for me to grow more prior to college," Jones said in the post. "I won’t be enrolling at Ohio State this year but I look forward to continuing our relationship."
A later report from 247Sports indicated that Jones' decision is related to academic eligibility issues.
Sources indicate academic issues keeping bkb commit Dorian Jones from enrolling at Ohio State for the summer term ... our story herehttps://t.co/aQODc9Ox42 pic.twitter.com/fwbknsYuQc
— Steve Helwagen (@SteveHelwagen) May 30, 2025
Jones is the No. 114 overall prospect and No. 19 shooting guard in the 247Sports composite rankings for the class of 2025. For now, he remains committed to Ohio State for the future, per the source.
With another backcourt option potentially on the way to bump him down a rung, Jones was in line to be fifth in the Buckeyes' guard rotation for this upcoming season behind senior Bruce Thornton, sophomore John Mobley Jr., Indiana transfer Gabe Cupps and redshirt sophomore Taison Chatman.
Ohio State has 15 roster spots to fill, but will only use 13 full scholarships. With Jones' decision, 11 scholarship players are set to be on their 2025-26 roster. More roster movement is pending to help fill those spots.
