MBB: Big Ten Basketball Preview – Ohio State

Hello, all, we are back once more! It came to our attention that we somehow skipped over a couple teams (there’s like 37 at this point, cut us some slack), so today we’re going back to cover the Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU finished the season with a modest 17-15 record, going 9-11 in conference, which was good enough to finish 10th in Jake Diebler’s first year at the helm of the Buckeye basketball ship. The team was invited to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown post-season tournament, after missing out on the NCAA Tournament, but declined.

The Buckeyes saw eight players depart this off-season, with five of them entering the transfer portal. But, luckily for Ohio State, three of their top four scorers are returning in Bruce Thornton (17.7 ppg), Devin Royal (13.7 ppg) and John Mobley Jr. (13.0 ppg), as well as their top rebounder (Royal, 6.9 rpg) and distributor (Thornton, 4.6 apg). They also dipped into the portal themselves, grabbing some much-needed size with three different big men transferring, and securing the commitments of Josh Ojianwuna (Baylor), Brandon Noel (Wright State) and Christoph Tilly (Santa Clara). They also grabbed inter-conference PG transfer Gabe Cupps from Indiana.

Some names to keep an eye on for the Buckeyes this season are the obvious guys like Thornton, who looks to build upon his stellar junior campaign, and John Mobley Jr., who I think could take a big leap forward if he can showcase that he’s not just an elite shooter (38.5% on 6.3 attempts a game). But the guys I’ve really got my eye on are new. I think that Josh Ojianwuna could have a really good year for OSU. I think he was underutilized at Baylor, and if he sees a minute bump, he could really surprise people this year.

The other name I’m looking at is Brandon Noel. This guy is the prototypical stretch-four. He’s 6’8”, with solid arm length, who can space the floor by hitting the outside shot (54% EFG on catch and shoot attempts last year), or use his solid handle to drive the lane against a slower matchup. He’s not going to shy away from contact, either, which is always nice to see from a big. I really, really like this kid. If he can acclimate himself to the higher level of competition, after spending his career up to this point in the Horizon League, I think he can be a huge difference maker this season for OSU.

I think i’m a little higher on OSU than most people, to be honest. I think they’re going to have a good season, most likely finishing in the 6-8 range in the Big Ten, give or take a few spots. But, I could also see them finishing toward the lower end of the standings, if the new pieces either don’t gel with the returning players, or they get hit by the injury bug. Time will tell, I suppose.

The Ducks will host the Buckeyes at some point this season, date and time currently TBD.