Ohio State and head coach Jake Diebler secured their second commit of the 2025 class on Tuesday, earning a pledge from Branson (Mo.) Link Academy four-star center A’Mare Bynum (6-8, 210).
Bynum, the nation’s 104th-best prospect, 17th-best center and sixth-best player out of Missouri in the class, committed to the Buckeyes over Iowa, Colorado, LSU and Xavier.
“Looking at everything, I came down with a decision with my family after looking at the pros and cons of every school,” Bynum told the Columbus Dispatch upon committing. “I just felt like the best was Ohio State, because of Diebler. It’s been great. Ever since the summer he’s been talking to me pretty much every day, Facetiming me, doing whatever he can to get me, and it worked.”
Bynum committed to Ohio State just 18 days after taking an official visit to Columbus on Oct. 4, where he spent the weekend on campus with Diebler and other members of the program. He went on one more visit this fall after the trip to Columbus, going to Xavier on Oct. 11, but after visiting with the Musketeers, he decided Diebler and the Buckeyes would be the better option for his collegiate career.
Now pledged to Ohio State, Bynum will join a Buckeyes frontcourt next year that may be playing without the services of 7-1 center Aaron Bradshaw, who is a potential early draft pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
Last season at Omaha (Neb.) Bryan — where he spent his first three seasons of high school — Bynum averaged an impressive 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.3 blocks per game, showing off a versatile skill set that he thinks can allow him to play power forward at the collegiate level.
That skill set was also on display this summer when he competed at the NBPA’s Top 100 camp in Orlando, Fla., from June 8-12, which is where Ohio State gained heavy interest in the high school senior, offering him on June 12.
Bynum, whose father, Omar, played at Iowa State from 2000-03, joins a 2025 recruiting class for Ohio State that also includes Cleveland Richmond Heights four-star shooting guard Dorian Jones (6-4, 160), the nation’s 109th-best prospect and No. 2 player in Ohio. The Buckeyes are likely not done for the 2025 class and could add one or two more prospects. They are still in heavy pursuit of Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep five-stars Niko Bundalo (6-10, 215) and Darryn Peterson (6-5, 195) — who have both visited campus this fall — while they are also after Bynum’s Link Academy teammate, four-star combo guard Jerry Easter (6-3, 183), who visited Ohio State the same weekend as Bynum.
