With Meechie Johnson back at OSU, Diebler working to land his cousin Marcus Johnson

On Tuesday, Meechie Johnson announced his return to the Ohio State men’s basketball program. New head coach Jake Diebler has also been working to land Johnson’s cousin, Marcus Johnson, a top 2026 prospect from Garfield Heights.

New Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler has gotten his share of good news this week with announcements that current Buckeyes Felix Okpara, Devin Royal and Bruce Thornton all plan to return for the 2024-25 season and that former Buckeye Meechie Johnson will be back in the fold as he plans to transfer in from South Carolina.

Johnson will play his fifth and final college season back at Ohio State, where he played as a freshman and sophomore in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

At the same time, Diebler is continuing to work hard on recruiting Johnson’s cousin, Garfield Heights sophomore guard Marcus Johnson, who is considered one of the nation’s top prospects in the 2026 class.

Johnson, listed at 6-2 and 170 pounds, is ranked as the nation’s No. 24 prospect overall, No. 4 point guard and No. 1 player overall in Ohio for the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports.com rankings.

He has already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in two seasons playing for his dad and coach Sonny Johnson at Garfield Heights.

Last year, Johnson was a MaxPreps second team Freshman All-American selection. He was a Division I first team All-Ohio pick and the Lake Erie League Player of the Year as he led the Bulldogs (22-4) to the Division I regional finals. Johnson led the team in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per contest.

This season, Johnson was one of the finalists for the Ohio Mr. Basketball award (which went to OSU 2024 signee Colin White of Ottawa-Glandorf). He was selected as the state Gatorade state player of the year as well as the MaxPreps state player of the year.