LJ Smith is looking to accelerate his development by enrolling at Ohio State one year early.
The five-star guard was originally a member of the 2027 recruiting class when he committed to the Buckeyes in November. Last month, however, Smith decided to reclassify into the 2026 class and become a Buckeye this year after completing his high school education early.
Smith, who played for one of the nation’s top high school basketball programs at Oak Hill Academy last season, felt like he would gain more by starting his Ohio State career this season rather than playing another year of high school basketball.
“I was just ready to come get better at the college level and develop my game,” Smith said last week in his first interview session since arriving at Ohio State. “During the winter, I was just worried about school ball at the time at Oak Hill, just staying in ’27. Spring came around, playing AAU ball, I felt like I was done with high school, ready to go to college. So I'm hoping to get better there.”
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said conversations with Smith about a potential reclassification started at the end of his junior season at Oak Hill, but the Buckeyes felt at the time that Smith would benefit from staying in high school for his senior year. After a strong AAU season this spring, however, Ohio State decided that Smith would be able to help the team in 2026-27 and reinitiated those conversations.
“There had been some conversations even going back to, I'll call it, towards the end of his high school season that, ‘Hey, this could be a possibility.’ It was initiated by them. We had some initial conversations. Then it really kind of shifted to, ‘Hey, we think maybe that's not best right now,’” Diebler said after Smith’s reclassification in June. “So those conversations started happening again later in the spring, and we watched him in Memphis with his AAU team and felt like he could come in, have an impact, add value to the roster as it had formed.
“In order for this to work, everybody had to be on the same page. And so it just took kind of a transparent dialogue to get to that point. And once we realized everybody was on the same page, ‘Hey, this is good for him, it's good for us,’ then it was, ‘All right, how do we get this done?’”
“I was just ready to come get better at the college level and develop my game.”– LJ Smith on enrolling at Ohio State a year early
Smith isn’t likely to be an immediate starter for Ohio State. Returning star John Mobley Jr. and Cal transfer Justin Pippen are in line to be the Buckeyes’ starting guards this season. Duquesne transfer Jimmie Williams might be first in line to join them on the court in three-guard lineups, while Ohio State’s other five-star freshman, Anthony Thompson, will play the three in bigger lineups.
But Smith – who averaged 33.1 points per game as a sophomore at Lincolnton (North Carolina) High School before averaging 16.8 points per game in EYBL play for Oak Hill last season – is capable of giving the Buckeyes an immediate scoring spark off the bench with the upside for his role in the backcourt to grow as his freshman year progresses.
“He's got a high basketball IQ, and he's talented, and he's got a skill set that'll translate right away,” Diebler said. “In my mind, it's, hey, there's a baseline level of impact that I'm expecting, and then leaving room for this ceiling that he's ultimately going to push up.
“I'm expecting him to impact winning. And from there, what that looks like, how much that is, time will tell. But I think there's no question, he wouldn't be here if we didn't feel like he was going to have an impact on this team.”
Smith, who says Buckeye fans “should expect buckets” when they see him play this season, believes he already has a college-ready ability to shoot and score the ball, but thinks the physical development he’ll get at Ohio State will make a big difference in his game.
“I felt like if I just got bigger, stronger, faster, my game would take a big leap,” said Smith, who is now ranked as the No. 51 overall prospect in the 2026 class but was ranked as the No. 25 composite prospect in the 2027 class before his reclassification.
Having been on campus for roughly a month now, Smith believes he’s already more physical on both ends of the court and faster than he was when he arrived at Ohio State. He acknowledged that his first few practices were challenging, as the Buckeyes were already a couple of weeks into their summer practice schedule when he joined the team, but he’s quickly started to feel more comfortable.
“The first couple days, it was a little rough getting adapted to the physicality and the speed, but now it's starting to slow down, and getting a little bit easier for me,” Smith said.
“There's no question, he wouldn't be here if we didn't feel like he was going to have an impact on this team.”– Jake Diebler on LJ Smith
Diebler has been impressed by how quickly Smith has gotten acclimated, especially considering how recently the plan came together for Smith to reclassify.
“The first couple weeks for him, I think, were moving a little fast. That's one of the common things he and I talked about, just the game was fast, the speed was fast. And I think we're starting to see it slow down for him a little bit,” Diebler said last week. “He had to jump in after everybody else had a couple-week head start. So I've been impressed with the consistency he works at. He shows up every day, he brings it. I know he's sore … I know he's feeling we've thrown a lot at him, but he can handle it. And I think that's exciting for what's to come.”
Given that he should still be in high school, some growing pains should be expected for Smith in his first season at Ohio State. But Diebler’s made it clear that the Buckeyes wouldn’t have brought Smith in early if they didn’t think he would make the team better this season, and Smith is confident that’s exactly what he’ll do.
“I feel like I'm going to make a great impact,” Smith said. “No matter what my role is at the time – being a great teammate, coming in, playing defense, rebounding, getting my teammates involved – I feel like I'm going to make a great impact.”
