Former area high school standout transferring to Ohio State

“So excited to be a Buckeyes!” Gray wrote in an message posted to social media.

The 5-foot-9 guard starred at Lakota West for three seasons before finishing her high school career at Winton Woods.

She was a three-time first-team All-Ohio selection and averaged 26.7points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as a senior when she was named the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year.

She made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and was honorable mention all-defense as a freshman in Eugene when she scored 10.3 points per game and handed out 2.2 assists.

Last season, she averaged 13.9 points and 3.0 assists per game while playing more than 36 minutes a night.

Later Monday Ohio State added another significant transfer in Ajae Petty.

A 6-3 forward, Petty is a Maryland native who played two seasons at LSU before spending the last two years at Kentucky.

She averaged 14.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. She also blocked 27 shots and had 43 steals in 32 games for the Wildcats last season, her first as a starter at the college level.

ESPN rated her the 16th-best player in the transfer portal at the start of the week, six spots ahead of Gray.

This spring, Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff trying to rebuild his 2024 Big Ten championship squad around All-Big Ten forward Cotie McMahon, a Centerville grad who averaged 14.4 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor last season as a sophomore when she was one of five finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award (nation’s best small forward).

The Buckeyes graduate point guard Jacy Sheldon, a second-team All-American and their best all-around player, but are set to welcome three top 100 national recruits, including five-star point guard Jaloni Cambridge of Montverde Academy in Florida.

No. 3 scorer Taylor Thierry, a 6-1 guard/forward, is set to return but senior guard Celeste Taylor and center Rebeka Mikulasikova are also out of eligibility so McGuff has some work to do as far as reshaping the roster.

Gray’s father, Carlton, is a Cincinnati native who was an All-American defensive back at UCLA before playing seven seasons in the NFL.