Jaloni Cambridge, the No. 3 girls basketball player in the country, commits to Ohio State

Former Ensworth girls basketball star Jaloni Cambridge will reunite with her older sister Kennedy Cambridge in college.

Jaloni Cambridge, the No. 3 high school girls basketball player in the country for the class of 2024, according to ESPN, announced her commitment to Ohio State on Friday. She'll join her sister in the backcourt with the Buckeyes, marking the first time since the 2021-22 high school season at Ensworth that they would play together.

Cambridge picked Ohio State over Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, LSU and South Carolina.

Cambridge is a three-time Tennessean girls basketball player of the year and three-time Division II-AA Miss Basketball.

Though Cambridge was encouraged by her sister to join her at Ohio State, that wasn't what led to the commitment.

"It's the way they play, their style of play," Cambridge said. "But before that, it's their culture.

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"When I talk about wanting to surround myself with like-minded people, that's just there from coaches and players. They want you at your best. They are going to do whatever it takes to get you there. I just want to be the next guard at Ohio State."

Cambridge started at Ensworth for four seasons beginning with her eighth-grade year before transferring to Montverde Academy, a prep school in Florida, prior to her senior season. The 5-foot-6 point guard is averaging 21.2 points at Montverde, which has won back-to-back GEICO national championships.

Ohio State is 10-2 this season under coach Kevin McGuff. Its uptempo style was a plus for Cambridge, who thrives on the basketball court with her speed and ability to create shots.

Jaloni Cambridge and Kennedy were at Ensworth together for three seasons before Kennedy graduated and signed with Kentucky. Kennedy transferred to Ohio State before this season.

Kennedy actually recruited her sister to come to Kentucky with her a year ago, and then to Ohio State. But Kennedy knew this was ultimately Jaloni's decision. And Jaloni appreciated that respect.

"If anyone knows Kennedy, if she sees something she can get, she's going to try her hardest," Cambridge said. "But she's an understanding person. She did it when she was at Kentucky. Of course she was going to push if her school was recruiting me. Why wouldn't you want to play with your younger sister?

"But she also asked me before I did it that this is what I wanted. She didn't want it to be all the outside noises telling me to go here, go here. She asked if this is what I wanted."

"It's going great (at Montverde)," Cambridge said. "I'm really enjoying it. These are probably one of the best group of girls I've been around in a while. It's amazing to be surrounded by like-minded people and the competitiveness that we have there is just great."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on the X platformer, formerly Twitter, @Kreager.