Anthony Thompson arrived at Ohio State with all the shine that comes with being a blue-chip recruit, and the preseason has already served up a reminder that the college game asks for patience.
That isn’t exactly a surprise. Thompson comes in as the No. 9 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2026 class, making him the fourth-highest-rated recruit in the modern era to sign with the Buckeyes, behind only Greg Oden, B.J.
Mullens and Jared Sullinger. He also became the first Ohio State player selected for the McDonald’s All-American Game since D’Angelo Russell in 2014.
From the start, Thompson has sounded comfortable with the attention.
“I think it's something that I came into (Ohio State) expecting. I think I've kind of expected those expectations from everybody as being one of the highest-rated guys,” Thompson said in his first interview session at Ohio State in July.
“I definitely embrace them. I think it's just part of my game.
I think it's something that I've earned as far as being like a high-rated player. I think I've been able to embrace them and just attack them every day. ...
I'm focused on winning games here."
Even with that mindset, the transition is proving to be exactly that - a transition. Thompson is still just 18, having turned that age in August, and Ohio State is asking a lot from a freshman who already looks the part physically at 6-9 and 215 pounds.
The talent is obvious. So is the adjustment period.
The preseason box scores have reflected that learning curve. Against Cincinnati in an outdoor exhibition, Thompson finished with zero points and two rebounds, missing both of his shot attempts.
Ohio State’s scrimmage at Louisville was not reported, and in the Buckeyes’ final exhibition against Butler, he had five points, one rebound, one block and one steal in 16 minutes. He made 2 of 5 shots and missed all three of his attempts from deep.
“We all have to remember that he is a freshman, and a young freshman at that," Jake Diebler said in June. He's young for his class. There's certain markers we've got to watch, see where he is at the end of the summer, in November, January 1 and then hopefully by that time it's taking off."
What’s stood out most so far isn’t just the limited production. It’s that Thompson hasn’t yet played with the kind of force you’d expect from a five-star prospect. The tools are there - size, length, athleticism, upside - but the rhythm is still coming.
That’s why Diebler keeps pointing to Malaki Branham.
The former Buckeye one-and-done also needed time before everything clicked, and Diebler has referenced that path multiple times while talking about Thompson’s development. At the start of summer, he drew the comparison directly.
"You saw it with Malaki Branham, a guy who got off to a slow start, but by the second half of the season was an all-league player," Diebler said at the beginning of summer. "So I think everybody's freshman journey is different, and we just, we all have to remember that he is a freshman and a young freshman at that, like he's, he's young for his class.
So I'm excited to see; I think there are certain markers we've got to just watch, right? See where he is at the end of the summer, kind of see where he is at November, see where he is on January 1.
And then hopefully by that time it's taken off."
Branham’s Ohio State career gives that idea some teeth. In his lone season in Columbus in 2021-22, the 6-5 guard averaged 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 49.8% from the floor and 41.6% from three across 32 games, 31 of them starts, in 29.6 minutes per game.
But the start wasn’t smooth. Over his first 10 games, Branham averaged 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 38.8% overall and 33.3% from long range in 21.8 minutes a night. His final game of that stretch was especially rough: zero points, two assists and four turnovers, plus two missed shots, in a win over Wisconsin.
Then came the turn.
The next outing, Branham exploded for a career-high 35 points, six rebounds and an assist, hitting 13 of 19 shots and 6 of 9 from beyond the arc in an overtime win at Nebraska. From there, the season changed. Over the final 22 games, he averaged 17 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field and 43.2% from three in 33.2 minutes per game.
Thompson doesn’t need to follow that exact script. But the broader lesson is the one Ohio State keeps emphasizing: freshmen rarely move in a straight line.
For Thompson, the opening chapter has been slow. The expectation is that the rest of the story will move faster once the switch finally flips.
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