Elite class of 2026 college basketball recruit Anthony Thompson took three recruiting visits to Mark Pope’s Kentucky program.
But on Tuesday morning, Thompson decided to go elsewhere to begin his college career.
Thompson — a 6-foot-8 small forward from Ohio who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2026 class — committed to Ohio State from a final shortlist of seven schools. That group, in full, comprised of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Purdue and Texas. Thompson took an official visit to all of his final schools, except Purdue.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Thompson is the top prospect to commit to a school in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Thompson is just the fifth player in the top 20 of the rankings to make his college choice.
Thompson is Ohio State’s highest-ranked high school recruit since 2014, when Louisville native D’Angelo Russell joined the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s 2026 recruiting class also includes four-star point guard Marcus Johnson and four-star power forward Alex Smith. The Buckeyes now have the No. 3 overall recruiting class in the country for 2026, according to 247Sports.
“Due to his immense versatility and scalability, Thompson will surely find ways to add value in any system,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, said of Thompson in a message to the Herald-Leader. “So long as he isn’t overtasked, Thompson is pretty scheme-versatile. Whether he’s asked to attack close-outs, run off screens, operate as a roller, play out of the dunker spot, or even handle the ball a bit, he can fit in.”
Thompson — who has an endorsement deal with Adidas — was one of Pope’s top targets in the high school senior class. Thompson took a trio of recruiting visits to UK in an 11-month span. Thompson’s first Kentucky visit came in October 2024 for Big Blue Madness. His second was UK’s January home win over Florida, the eventual 2025 national champions.
Most recently, the left-handed Thompson took an official visit last month to Kentucky. This was the final official visit Thompson took in his recruitment.
“(They) kind of just told me how big of a priority I am for them with my versatility and my shooting and stuff like that,” Thompson told the Herald-Leader and other reporters over the summer about his relationship with UK. “Obviously, it’s a really storied program, a really good program over a lot of years. It’s a blue blood.”
Thompson, who doesn’t turn 18 years old until next summer, is the fifth recruit from the 2026 class with a UK scholarship offer to commit elsewhere. He joins guards Jason Crowe Jr. (Missouri) and Taylen Kinney (Kansas), along with small forwards Tajh Ariza (Oregon) and Cole Cloer (North Carolina State) in this regard.
Pope’s Kentucky program remains one of only three SEC schools without a commitment from a class of 2026 recruit. The others are Auburn and Georgia. The early signing period begins Nov. 12 and runs through Nov. 19.
Class of 2026 college basketball recruit Anthony Thompson (5) is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 8 prospect in the high school senior class. Tony Tribble for The Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
What is the latest with Kentucky basketball recruiting?
Despite the lack of a 2026 commitment, concern remains at a minimum regarding UK’s expected freshman recruiting class for next season.
This is largely due to the positive recruiting buzz that exists for Kentucky with Tyran Stokes, the top-ranked recruit in the 2026 class.
Stokes, a 6-foot-7 playmaker who is originally from Louisville and plays prep basketball in California, is the clear-cut best player from the high school senior group. In addition to Stokes, UK remains in contention for a number of top recruits from the 2026 class, including guards Deron Rippey Jr. and Jordan Smith, small forwards Baba Oladotun, Caleb Holt and Bryson Howard, power forward Christian Collins and centers Arafan Diane and Josh Irving.
Howard will also be announcing his commitment Tuesday. He will choose between Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Oladotun took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend.
There’s been chatter about Irving potentially committing to a school this week. He’s down to a final group of three schools that includes Kentucky, Louisville and the favorite, Texas A&M.
Currently, UK has 16 scholarship offers out to uncommitted prospects in the 2026 class, although the Wildcats aren’t in the running for all of these players.
During UK’s team media day earlier this month, Pope spoke about the high school recruiting outlook for his program.
“I think the process is even more fun than it’s ever been. I’ll continue to say that the most important part of this process for us is not finding the best, highest-ranked player,” Pope said. “You’d be shocked at how many times we end up mutually walking away because we know what Kentucky is, and finding the right player here… It doesn’t amount to the sum of just going to find whoever someone is ranking the highest player.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2025 at 9:53 AM.
Cameron Drummond
Lexington Herald-Leader
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
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