NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 6 teams for 2025 4-star SG Kiyan Anthony
Ohio State Buckeyes
New Coach Jake Diebler has a veteran backcourt to work next season in senior transfer Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thornton, who is a potential pro candidate. The team already has four-star guard commit Dorian Jones, though Anthony is ranked higher on the recruiting boards.
Jones being around wouldn’t affect much, since the three-spot would be open after next year anyway and Ohio State could easily play three-guard lineups a year from now. The big question is how good Coach Diebler will be as a D-I head coach because it’s hard to see Carmelo trusting someone new to this level with developing his son. So Ohio State may prefer a later decision here.
Rutgers Scarlets Knights
Speaking of “wait and see”, we’re about to get a great test with Coach Steve Pikiell, who has two of the top incoming freshmen joining the team in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. If they have big years, the Scarlet Knights will be even more viable for top-tier prospects going forward.
Both Harper and Bailey are likely “one and done” NBA Draft prospects, while EMU transfer Tyson Acuff will only be around for one year. Plus, Rutgers is close to New York, which gives them a little “hometown” advantage in this sweepstakes.