2024-25 Big Ten offseason at a glance: Ohio State Buckeyes

  • 05/31/2024 8:05 am in

Welcome to “Big Ten offseason at a glance,” a team-by-team look at the conference at the start of the summer. We’ll examine roster movement for each Big Ten roster and give an early outlook for each Big Ten program for the 2024-25 season.

Previously: Penn State, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin

Today: Ohio State (22-14 overall in 2023-24, 9-11 in Big Ten play)

The Buckeyes fired Chris Holtmann on February 14 after a 62-54 loss at Wisconsin. That loss dropped the Buckeyes to 14-11 and 4-10 in the Big Ten. Interim coach Jake Diebler went 8-3 over the next 11 games and reached the NIT, earning himself the permanent position in Columbus.

Ohio State roster movement

Players returning with eligibility remaining: Bruce Thornton, Evan Mahaffey, Devin Royal, Taison Chatman, Austin Parks, Kalen Etzler

Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: Jamison Battle, Dale Bonner

Players who departed via the transfer portal: Felix Okpara (to Tennessee), Zed Key (to Dayton), Roddy Gayle Jr. (to Michigan), Scotty Middleton (to Seton Hall), Bowen Hardman (to Akron)

Players arriving via the transfer portal: Meechie Johnson Jr. (from South Carolina), Micah Parrish (from San Diego State), Aaron Bradshaw (from Kentucky), Sean Stewart (from Duke)

Players arriving via high school: Juni Mobley (247Composite top 55), Colin White

As expected, there was a lot of roster movement at Ohio State after the coaching change. Four rotation players, including a pair of starters in Okpara and Gayle Jr., left. The Buckeyes were active in the portal and added several potential starters to complement Thornton, who should be one of the league’s top point guards.

What to like about Ohio State

There’s plenty of talent on the roster. Thornton could be an All-Big Ten player. Johnson, who began his career at Ohio State before transferring to South Carolina, is back for one final run in Columbus.

Parrish, a Detroit native, has plenty of experience at the highest level of college basketball from his time at San Diego State. In the frontcourt, Stewart and Bradshaw arrive after underwhelming freshman seasons at Duke and Kentucky. Both should have chips on their shoulder and have something to prove after being highly touted out of high school.

And Mobley, a top 50 player, should bolster the guard depth with Chatman, another former top 50 player, looking to take a step forward as a sophomore. Royal should also get an opportunity for an increased role under Diebler, who played him heavy minutes after taking over for Holtmann in mid-February.

What to question with Ohio State

Is Diebler ready to be a head coach at a big-time program? He won down the stretch, but is hardly proven.

Ohio State should have one of the Big Ten’s best backcourts but the wing and frontcourt play has some questions to answer. Can Stewart and Bradshaw produce if given the opportunity? Does Ohio State have enough wing shooting? And can Royal continue the strong play he exhibited down the stretch last season and break out as a sophomore?

Ohio State’s outlook for the 2024-25 season

Here’s Ohio State’s Big Ten schedule for next season:

Home: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington
Away: Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
Home/Away: Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska

Bart Torvik’s current projections for next season have Ohio State at No. 34 nationally and Lunardi’s bracketology has the Buckeyes as a No. 6 seed, which seems high.

Diebler earned the opportunity to lead the program after last season’s finish, but that was a much lower-pressure situation than he’ll face as the head coach. Ohio State should be a tournament team with its talent level but the frontcourt has to perform and the combo of Thornton and Johnson needs to fit together seamlessly.

(Photo credit: Ohio State Athletics)

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