It was a busy weekend on the recruiting front, with Zion-Benton's Lenzelle Smith and Seton's Tony Nixon and DJ Cooper all giving oral commitments.
Smith, widely considered the third best player in the class of 2010, made an oral commitment to Ohio State at a press conference Monday afternoon.
Smith chose the Buckeyes over Illinois, Notre Dame, DePaul, Northwestern, Indiana, Virginia and Boston College.
"Ohio State is a place where I can continue my education, and grow as a basketball player and as a man," Smith said.
"It shows what a great recruiter [Ohio State coach] Thad Matta is," recruiting analyst Roy Schmidt said. "They stayed on him all summer."
Illinois was heavily involved with Smith early on, but the Illini already have a slew of talented 2009 and 2010 players committed.
Smith, a 6-3 guard, led Zion-Benton to a second place finish in the Class 4A state tournament last season. The Zee-Bees are expected to be one of the top five teams in the area in the upcoming season.
Seton guards Tony Nixon and DJ Cooper each committed while on campus visists.
Nixon, a 6-5 senior, chose Northern Illinois over Fresno State and Drake.
"This is the steal of the year," Schmidt said. "I think if Nixon had held out there is a possibility he could have gone to a higher level. You've got to give a lot of credit to Dennis Gates and the NIU coaching staff."
Cooper, a 5-9 senior who transferred to Seton from Hales, gave an oral commitment to Ohio. Cooper chose the Bobcats over Loyola and Wichita State.
Darren Day of the News-Sun contributed to this story.
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