Ohio State welcomes 2023 prospect Middleton for official visit



Ohio State is hosting one of the nation’s top 2023 prospects as Wichita (Kan.) Sunrise Christian wing Scotty Middleton is on campus this weekend for an official junior year visit.

The 6-foot-7, 180-pound Middleton helped Sunrise Christian go 24-1 this season. The Buffaloes will wrap up their year playing in the Geico Nationals later this month.

Middleton is ranked 50th among prospects in the country and 10th small forward, according to 247Sports.composite. He transferred to Sunrise Christian last year after preparing at Patrick School in Hillside, NJ.

He has already made an official visit to the state of Kansas. Other top schools that have offered include Kansas, UConn, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Xavier, Georgia, and others.

Speaking to 247Sports in a recent interview, Middleton explained what college coaches like about his game.

“I feel like a leader,” Middleton said. “I can score the ball at all three levels. I’m a really good shooter at the moment. And I think I’m trying to get out of my defense and that gets me and my team going. I’m setting the tone defensively at every game. So I’m going to give my team some spark and some energy.”

He explained how defense has become one of his calling cards.

“When I started to really get into basketball, I couldn’t really score like that,” Middleton said. “I couldn’t really score, I was really bad at basketball. So defense was the only thing I could do. It was like, I had to play defense to get on the court. So now that’s it natural, I want to play defense.

Middleton talked about some of the things he looks for in his choice of college.

“Certainly relationships, obviously I want to be close to all the coaches on the coaching staff,” Middleton said. “I don’t know yet what position I want to play in college. But I want to go to a college where it doesn’t really matter where I can play [different perimeter positions] depending on the situations of the game. And whatever school is going to put me in a better situation, to really improve me off the pitch. I’m working on being a better communicator off the pitch, on being better as a person. I really want my coaches to really push me to be a better person because basketball isn’t going to last forever. So I want my coaches to really love, push me to really be a better person.”

Ohio State already has two commitments for the Class of 2023 with Christian Academy of Louisville combo guard George Washington III (ranked 46th nationally) and St. Marys (Ohio) Memorial Center Austin Parks (ranked 149th).

Okpara, Gayle visiting this weekend

2022 Ohio State commitments Felix Okpara and Roddy Gayle are also expected on campus this weekend and will attend Sunday’s game against Michigan.

The 6-4 Gayle plays for Wasatch Academy in Utah. He’s ranked as the nation’s No. 59 prospect and No. 4 shooting guard in the Class of 2022.

The 6-11 Okpara plays for Link Academy in Missouri. His team is also expected to be tagged for the Geico Nationals. He is ranked as the No. 50 prospect and No. 11 center in the nation.

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