Recruiting: Kobe Bufkin Lists Ohio State Hoops in Top Five

Bufkin would become third Ohio State commit in the Class of 2021

Four-star shooting guard Kobe Bufkin announced on Tuesday that Ohio State is among his most strongly-considered schools. He says he'll make his decision where to play college basketball on Friday, July 10. Bufkin's top five also includes Michigan, Michigan State, LSU and DePaul.

Bufkin is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan and plays his prep ball at Grand Rapids Christian. He's ranked as the 78th best player in the nation by 247 Sports Composite, as well as the No. 15 shooting guard and third best player in the state of Michigan.

Bufkin is a rising senior in high school, who averaged 22 points per game last year. He has earned Michigan Associated Press All-State and Grand Rapids Dream Team honors in each of the past two seasons.

While his commitment announcement won't come down until Friday, there is quite a bit of speculation that Bufkin will play for Juwan Howard at Michigan. If the maize and blue land him in the Class of 2021 (with still much of the recruiting cycle in front of them), U of M would vault to third nationally in the class rankings. In fact, Bufkin's commitment would mean Juwan Howard has locked down four of the top 16 highest-rated recruits that have chosen Michigan over the last 12 years.

The Buckeyes Class of 2021 is off to a strong start, with four-star talents Meechie Johnson (Garfield Heights High School in Garfield Heights, OH) and Kalen Etzler (Crestview High School in Convoy, Ohio). Both are currently considered top 100 players in the country. 

But it's early in the process, the recruiting trail is quite competitive and the Big Ten is off to a hot start. As of this writing on July 8, according to 247 Sports, Northwestern has the third ranked class of 2021, Michigan State is fourth (including five-star prospect Max Christie), Wisconsin is sixth, Maryland ranks tenth and Michigan's class is No. 14.

There's no doubt, landing Kobe Bufkin would be a huge boost to the Buckeyes. It sounds like Friday if he'll be joining forces with the Buckeyes, or perhaps staying in-state to play for the Buckeyes biggest basketball rivals.

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