Ohio State LeBron James locker

The LeBron James locker in the new Ohio State basketball locker room.

(Doug Lesmerises)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State likes LeBron James. That's a reality.

The OSU players like him. The OSU coaches like him – Urban Meyer said he was a great leader. Lots of OSU fans like him. James didn't go to Ohio State, but his relationship with the school, from talking with Terrelle Pryor to getting a No. 23 OSU jersey from the Buckeyes to hanging around the basketball team, which wears his gear, is almost like that of a former player.

And now he has a locker.

The Buckeyes on Tuesday gave the media a tour of their $19 million expansion and renovation of their basketball practice facilities, which includes separate practice court areas for the men and women, a new shared workout room for the basketball and ice hockey teams, and redesigns of the locker rooms and training areas.

But one locker stood out. It was impossible not to notice right away in the men's locker room that amidst the nameplates over the lockers for Aaron Craft, Sam Thompson, Lenzelle Smith and others, there was a No. 6.

First of all, numbers that end with anything between six and nine can't be used in college basketball, because an official only has five fingers on his hand for when he signals fouls to the scoring table. So that stood out. Also, the nameplate for was the NBA's MVP, not a college kid. But maybe he can help the 2013-14 Buckeyes on the court?

“I think that he's going to have to earn his stripes,” OSU coach Thad Matta said.

Former Buckeye star Michael Redd gave $500,000 to the renovation of the OSU basketball facilities and had the men's locker room named for him.

Ohio State said the locker is there to salute James, who made the Buckeyes the first team to wear his Nike gear, with the LeBron logo instead of the swoosh, back in 2007.

“We always want to pay our respects to him for what he did for us in '07 in terms of we were the first LeBron school. And obviously we get tremendous product from him, and I know he's very proud of what he does for us," Matta said.

A school spokesman said the locker is used to house and show off the team's LeBron gear, and it's also not a bad name to have hanging there when recruits come through the locker room.

“There's no question about it,” Matta said. “I've always said if I could have coached him I would have been a lot better coach early on. He's very proud of what we've done and just in terms of his name and being from Ohio and the fact we wear his gear, that's important for us.”

James didn't make a specific donation to this $19 million renovation. But an actual former Buckeye did. Athletic director Gene Smith said NBA All-Star Michael Redd gave $500,000 to the project. And on the wall across from the James locker is the name of the space – The Michael Redd Locker Room.

Late Tuesday afternoon, James responded to the locker on Twitter and Instagram.