Dayton offers scholarship to one of top recruits in 2026 class

Anthony Thompson will attend Western Reserve this year after two years at Lebanon
Anthony Thompson, a 2026 recruit from Lebanon, watches Dayton play Rhode Island from behind the UD bench on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, at UD Arena. David Jablonski/Staff

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Anthony Thompson, a 2026 recruit from Lebanon, watches Dayton play Rhode Island from behind the UD bench on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, at UD Arena. David Jablonski/Staff

Anthony Thompson, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward in the class of 2026, announced Saturday he received a scholarship offer from the Dayton Flyers.

Thompson attended Lebanon High School the last two years and received a scholarship offer from Ohio State in January. He announced in May he would transfer to Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds as a sophomore at Lebanon

Thompson sat behind the Dayton bench during a game against Rhode Island on Jan. 20 at UD Arena.

Thompson ranks 13th in the class of 2026, according to Rivals.com. He’s No. 57, according to On3Sports.com.

Iowa, Missouri and Penn State are the other most recent schools to offer Thompson a scholarship.

Thompson is the seventh member of the class of 2026 to receive an offer from Dayton.

• Cameron Holmes, a 6-5 guard from Millennium High School in Goodyear, Ariz., and the youngest brother of former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II, received an offer in December 2022.

• Hassan Koureissi, a 6-3 guard from Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y., received an offer in February 2023.

• Dylan Mingo, a 6-3 point guard from Long Island Lutheran High School in New York, received an offer in July 2023.

• Taylen Kinney, a 6-0 point guard from Newport High School in Kentucky, received an offer in September.

• T.J. Crumble, a 6-foot-8 forward in the 2026 recruiting class, received an offer in March.

• King Kendrick, a 5-foot-11 sophomore point guard from Northland High School in Columbus, received an offer in April.

Saturday was the first day college coaches could directly contact members of the class of 2026. Here’s who else Dayton contacted over the weekend, according to reports.

• Dayton was one of many schools to reach out to Crumble, according to Chris Beasmore, who covers Kentucky basketball.

• Dayton, Pepperdine, La Salle, UMBC, Notre Dame and Umass all contacted Koureissi, according to Brian Flinn, of the Made Hoops Report.

• Dayton, Appalachian State, Samford and Marshall contacted Cody Peck, a 6-10 forward from the Carmel Christian School in Matthews, N.C.

Dayton added two players from the 2024 class late in the recruiting cycle, both from overseas: Hamad Mousa, of Qatar; and Amaël L’Etang, of France.

Dayton has offered scholarships to a number of players in the 2025 class.

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