Ohio State lands commitment from 6-foot-10 big man Austin Parks

Austin Parks, a 6-foot-10 center out of Saint Marys (Ohio) Memorial tells On3 he has committed to Ohio State basketball for the class of 2023.

The Ohio native chose the Buckeyes ultimately over Indiana and West Virginia. He also received offers from Michigan State, Illinois, Cincinnati, among others.

Parks is Chris Holtmann and Ohio State’s second commitment of the class. He joins four-star combo guard George Washington III.

Last year as a sophomore, Parks averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds for St. Mary’s Memorial High School.

According to the On3 Consensus, Parks is ranked as the 69th overall prospect in the 2023 class.

Why Ohio State?

Parks grew up less than two hours away from Columbus. Unsurprisingly, he and his family grew up fans of the Buckeyes.

“I had to go through with my family and make a pros and cons list of each school,” Parks told The Columbus Dispatch. “To be honest, there weren’t many negatives of (any of the schools). It led me to Ohio State because growing up, my whole family in Ohio has been OSU fans and that played a part. With the distance, that was also a major factor, being an hour and a half away down the road and having my mom’s work schedule. This was just the best choice for me.

“Being a kid from Ohio, having them want you to play for their school, I feel really honored. Every time I went there they always made me feel like a priority, saying how they would use me and use me in the right way. I’ve done research and watched games and they do use their bigs the way that I could be used to help them win some games.”