5-Star PG Prospect DJ Carton Commits to Ohio State over Michigan, More

Point guard DJ Carton announced Saturday that he has committed to play college basketball at Ohio State.

He made it official with the following tweet:

According to 247Sports, Carton is a 5-star recruit who ranks as the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 2 point guard in the 2019 class.

Michigan and Indiana were among the high-profile schools in the hunt for Carton before he chose OSU.

Carton is a standout at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, and is rated as the No. 1 player in the state.

He is on the small side at 6'1" and 189 pounds, but he is an explosive offensive force and a quality playmaker.

According to James Grega of Eleven Warriors, Michigan was considered the favorite to land Carton until he made his official visit to Ohio State this week.

With the addition of Carton, the Buckeyes are building a strong group that already included small forward Alonzo Gaffney, who 247Sports rates as No. 30 in the class.

After missing the NCAA tournament in 2015-16 and 2016-17, Ohio State is on the rise.

In their first season under head coach Chris Holtmann in 2017-18, the Buckeyes went 25-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Gonzaga.

OSU has a strong class for 2018-19, and if the Buckeyes can retain some of them for 2019-20 while adding Carton, they'll have the makings of a Big Ten power.