Top-10 junior L.J. Smith made his decision on Thursday, choosing Ohio State and becoming the highest-ranked 2027 recruit to commit so far. He’s also the first five-star in his class to lock things in this early.

Smith is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Lincolnton, North Carolina, now hooping at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia after an August transfer. He’s ranked No. 10 in the SC Next 60 for 2027. His commitment gives Jake Diebler five-star signings in back-to-back classes, something Ohio State hasn’t pulled off since D’Angelo Russell committed in 2014.

With Smith joining the Buckeyes, he becomes their highest-rated addition since Jared Sullinger arrived as the No. 2 recruit in 2010. Smith picked Ohio State over several powerhouse programs, saying he’s built a strong connection with head coach Jake Diebler and that the program genuinely felt “like home.”

LJ Smith’s high school journey

Last season, when L.J. Smith was still at Lincolnton High School in North Carolina, he put up numbers that tell you why a dozen programs were after him. In 29 games, he averaged 33.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, and ended up setting a new state record for most points scored by a sophomore, 960 points in those 29 games. Thanks to that production, he bagged the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference Player of the Year award.

His scoring total wasn’t just impressive for his class; it actually ranked as the fourth-highest single-season mark, according to the NCHSAA. The only players ahead of him were Roxboro Community’s Darius McGhee (1,057 in 2015–16), North Davidson’s Themus Fulks (1,055 in 2018–19), and Eastern Alamance’s Jameson Curry (972 in 2002–03).

When the high school season wrapped up, Smith joined Team Thad for the Nike EYBL grassroots circuit. There, he averaged 14.1 points and 3.0 rebounds, and knocked down 42% of his threes, showing his scoring translates even against elite competition. He also earned an invite to the NBPA Top 100 Camp, where On3 Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw got a close look at him.

Shaw said, “LJ Smith played a compact game this week that led to production. He averaged 11.0 points and shot 37.5 percent from three. Continuing to develop his on-ball reads will take his game to the next level, but Smith continues to prove to be an offensive weapon.”

Shaw also noted that Smith, “…showed his shooting touch on day two. A noted scorer, he played predominantly off-ball and capitalized on the opportunities presented. He has a good frame and a smooth shooting touch.”

LJ Smith’s nationality and ethnicity

LJ Smith, the highly coveted basketball talent now committed to Ohio State, is undeniably American, originating from the basketball-enthusiastic state of North Carolina. The specifics of his ethnic heritage remain a private aspect of his narrative.

LJ Smith’s career highlights

When he was a kid, he barely came up to the shoulders of the kids around him. He looked younger, smaller, easier to overlook, but only until he touched a basketball. He slipped between cones, got genuinely irritated when he missed, and could dribble one ball steadily while snapping another across his body like it was nothing.

Older, bigger players beside him were losing the handle on simple moves; he wasn’t. Even as a kid, you could just tell he had something different in him. Nearly a decade later, he’s still proving that instinct right.

His freshman year wasn’t smooth; he broke his foot and missed 12 games, but the way he responded is what changed everything. He tried to get 1,000 shots up a few times a week, and if not that, then a minimum of 600 or 700. Thanks to that, 30-point nights were never a surprise. Hitting 40 felt normal. Anything under 25? That was considered an off game.

Across the first 11 games of his freshman year, Smith crossed 30 six times, dropped 40 in three of them (including back-to-back outings), and dipped below 27 only once. Even with the injury still in the rearview, he averaged 32.2 points in 16 games, which was strong enough to land him on the HighSchoolOT all-state third team. His next season looked even better. He passed 1,500 career points before the conference tournament of his sophomore year even began.

That’s why Ohio State fans are buzzing. Smith is easily one of the sharpest shooters in the 2027 class. He hits shots off movement, off the catch, and off a rhythm dribble. He’s balanced, sees the floor well, has good positional size, and is dangerous in transition because of how fast he gets downhill.

And defending him is basically picking your poison. He’s just as threatening when he doesn’t have the ball as when he does. He reads screens well, shifts gears to lose defenders, pops into his shooting motion smoothly, and when someone charges at him on a closeout, he doesn’t panic. He puts it on the floor and finishes at the rim even when help rotates over.