Ohio State Buckeyes Land First On-Campus Visit for Five-Star Shooting Guard

First impressions are important, and the Ohio State Buckeyes just bagged the chance to make one for a five-star shooting guard recruit for the class of 2028.

Ohio State basketball head coach Jake Diebler walks past a mural of former players after speaking to media prior to an offseason practice at the Schottenstein Center on June 18, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

First impressions carry a lasting effect. That's good news for the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball program, which has landed five-star shooting guard Kameron Mercer's first on-campus visit. He's scheduled to come to Columbus and meet with Head Coach Jake Diebler on August 1, 2025.

While Mercer isn't slated to play college ball until the 2028-29 season, it's never too early to recruit a player with his pedigree. Hailing from Cincinnati, he's currently listed as the sixth-best prospect in his class by ESPN and has already stacked up a long résumé of accolades. He recently helped lead USA's U-16 national team to gold in FIBA Men's AmeriCup earlier this summer.

The Buckeyes aren't the only institution with its eyes on the young shooting guard. Along with offers from Louisville, UCF, and Maryland, among other schools, he's also signed a contract with Overtime Elite and already garnered a few NIL agreements, including a multi-million-dollar deal with Panini America, a company specializing in officially licensed collectibles.

Getting this visit was a huge win for Head Coach Jake Diebler, who's entering his third season with Ohio State after a disappointing campaign in 2024-25. Diebler has yet to have one of his players drafted into the NBA, but he did aid Jamison Battle in signing as an undrafted free agent with the Toronto Raptors.

It's a great sign that Mercer chose Ohio State as his first-ever on-campus visit after becoming eligible. However, the most important recruiting tool will be how the Buckeyes basketball team performs between now and when he makes his decision in 2028.

Should he end up committing to OSU, he'd be joining a program that's produced a lot of NBA talent over the years, including current guards D'Angelo Russell, Malaki Branham, and Brice Sensabaugh. Great things are surely ahead for Kameron Mercer, who's coming off of the Peach Jam title. Hopefully, becoming another Buckeyes legend will be one of them.