Recruiting: Charles Bediako Places Ohio State Basketball in Top-10 Schools

Class of 2021 center and Canadian prospect includes the Buckeyes in his top-10 list.

Ohio State has made the next cut for one of the top centers in the basketball recruiting class of 2021, as Canadian Charles Bediako includes the Buckeyes amongst his top-10 schools over the holiday weekend.

The five-star prospect, rated No. 20 overall nationally in the latest 247Sports industry-generate composite rankings, stands 6-11 and weighs roughly 215 pounds. He was offered by head coach Chris Holtmann back in July of last year.

Bediako is from St. Catharines, Ontario but now plays his high school ball in the United States. He most recently suited up for Andrews Osborne Academy (Willoughby, Ohio) but announced last month that he will be transferring to IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) for his senior season.

The big man also included Duke, Michigan, Memphis, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Baylor and Maryland. Bediako left out Michigan State, Louisville, Arizona State and others when trimming his list.

Rivals actually has Bediako currently listed as a four-star recruit and the No. 22 player nationally. Both they and 247Sports match up on him as the No. 3 player at his center position.

Fellow Canadian product R.J Barrett made a similar move as Bediako during high school, moving from Ontario down to Florida as well before committing to Duke. The Blue Devils would certainly love to see Bediako continue that same route and into Durham, N.C.

Ohio State, however, is hoping to make a big splash with its 2021 class that features a ton of in-state talent and then some. The Buckeyes already have commits from combo guard Meechie Johnson (Garfield Heights) and power forward Kalen Etzler (Convoy Crestview) while attempting to make traction with other notables.

OSU did recently miss out on big man Gabe Wiznitzer, who reclassified into the 2020 class and committed to Louisville, but also made the top-seven list for standout Chet Holmgren from Minneapolis.

Efton Reid (Richmond, Va.) and Franck Kepnang (Norristown, Pa.) are other centers ranked in the top-25 nationally to have received an offer from Ohio State, as did No. 53 Micawber Etienne in Suffield, Conn. All are rated top 10 at their position.

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