Tag: ohio state basketball

Ohio State basketball loses starting guard to the transfer portal

A big loss for the Buckeyes

Ohio State basketball suffered its first major loss to the transfer portal as guard [autotag]Roddy Gayle Jr.[/autotag] will move on from Columbus.

It’s a bit surprising that the soon-to-be junior is leaving considering he played a good amount over his first two seasons for the Buckeyes. Gayle’s numbers were up across the board, scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and shooting percentage.

The Buckeyes now have at least two confirmed starters from this past season returning with point guard Bruce Thornton and center Felix Okpara. Top backup forward Devin Royal also announced his return while guard Meechie Johnson is returning after a brief 2-year hiatus at South Carolina.

It’s unfortunate that Gayle has decided to move on and we wish him the best at his next basketball home.

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Bronny James plans to enter transfer portal. Could Ohio State be in play?

Second time a charm? #GoBucks

Bronny James, son of LeBron James, has entered the transfer portal. Ohio State was in play the first time around Bronny’s recruitment, but ultimately he chose to stay close to home and attend USC. But after some health concerns prior to the season and a subpar year on the court, it appears James will look to take his talents elsewhere.

Where that might be is anyone’s guess, but the possibility of him landing in Scarlet and Gray has to at least be explored. Everyone knows LeBron’s fandom is second to none when it comes to OSU athletics as he’s constantly gifting the Buckeye football and basketball teams shoes and LBJ Nike gear. Heck, he even has a locker in the locker room at the Schott even though he never actually played for Ohio State.

Another factor could be the return of Meechie Johnson. Johnson started his career in Columbus but transferred to South Carolina after two seasons where he led the Gamecocks in scoring this year. Here’s where it gets interesting. LeBron and Meechie’s father have a close friendship and LeBron calls Meechie his “nephew” even though there is no blood relation. It’s possible that Bronny would want to team up with Meechie at OSU.

Of course, there are many options for a player of Bronny’s pedigree. Deciding to go through the draft process might be an option. LeBron has said more than once that he’d love to play with his son in the NBA and LeBron isn’t getting any younger.

Maybe Duquesne is a landing spot after Dru Joyce III was recently named head coach. James and Joyce played together in high school at Akron St. Vincent St. Mary.

There will be much speculation as to the landing spot for Bronny until a decision is reached and made public. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

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More good news for Ohio State basketball as another starter will return

Massive news for the Buckeyes hoops team. #GoBucks

When you undergo a coaching change there is bound to be some departures, and that has been the case with Ohio State basketball.

Although two players have left already and entered the portal, Bowen Hardman and Scotty Middleton, one on Monday night elected to say in center Felix Okpara.

Another joined Okpara Tuesday when starting point guard, [autotag]Bruce Thornton[/autotag], went to social media on Tuesday and announced that he will return for his junior season in Columbus. The rising-junior set new career-highs in points with 15.7, assists with 4.8, rebounds with 3.7, all while doing a great job of limiting his turnovers. He is now expected to make another leap during the next season.

That now makes two starters that are confirmed to return for Ohio State, and the biggest one now is [autotag]Roddy Gayle Jr.[/autotag], as we await his announcement.

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Ohio State basketball sees transfer guard Meechie Johnson return

Johnson returns home to the Buckeyes. #GoBucks

Just a few years ago, guard [autotag]Meechie Johnson[/autotag] was viewed as a building block for Ohio State basketball.

Although he played sparingly during his freshman season, he started to break through during his sophomore year, setting up a big junior campaign. Unfortunately, that never happened as Johnson transferred to South Carolina where his career really took off.

Johnson saw statistical increases in virtually every category while with the Gamecocks, but after their season ended, he entered the transfer portal. Almost immediately he was linked to return where his collegiate career started, and on Tuesday it became a reality as he committed to Ohio State.

Again.

Part of his reasoning for returning was that he has always been a Buckeye, along with the way the program is trending now that Jake Diebler has taken over. We are extremely excited to see Johnson back in the Scarlet and Gray.

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Felix Okpara puts to bed any ideas of him leaving Ohio State basketball

Great news for the Buckeyes on the hardwood. #GoBucks

There were rumors floating around social media that Ohio State basketball’s starting center, [autotag]Felix Okpara[/autotag], would be entering the transfer portal.

Well, on Monday night, the rising-junior let everyone know that he will be returning for another season with the Buckeyes. The Nigerian native has improved during each of his two season in Columbus, as he wrestled away the starting job from Zed Key.

Okpara has shot at a high-level, both seasons right at 58%, while upping his rebounds and blocks from one year to the next. His game is similar to former Buckeye Ken Johnson, who was the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2000-2001.

This is a big win for head coach Jake Diebler, as he had seen Bowen Hardman and Scotty Middleton already announce their intentions to enter the transfer portal.

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Ohio State basketball loses freshman contributor to the transfer portal

A significant loss for the Buckeyes. #GoBucks

If you had been paying attention to Ohio State basketball over its last few games, you would have known that freshman wing [autotag]Scotty Middleton[/autotag] had been away from the team during the NIT run.

Although the exact reason why the Florida native returned home wasn’t announced, and the fact that he returned for the final game seemed like everything was fine. It turns out, it wasn’t.

Middleton entered the transfer portal on Monday, after his first year which saw him score 4.4 points-per-game. He started to play with much more confidence and results once Jake Diebler took over, but a second season isn’t in the cards for the two.

An interesting aspect of Middleton’s announcement was that he intended on testing the NBA draft process, something that probably isn’t a realistic possibility at the moment.

We wish Middleton the best as he looks for his next basketball home. He is the second Buckeye to enter the portal following Bowen Hardman’s decision last week.

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Jamison Battle to take part in college basketball 3-point shooting contest

Cheer on Battle one last time in this competition. #GoBucks

Just when Ohio State forward Jamison Battle thought he had donned the OSU basketball uniform for the last time, it looks as though he’ll be able to wear it one more time.

That’s because Battle was invited to participate in the State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships out in Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

The full list of contestants have yet to be announced, but Battle was a sharpshooter for the Buckeyes after transferring from Minnesota last season. He shot 43.3% from deep as one of the top percentages in all of college basketball.

The event will air Thursday, April 4 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, so get ready to cheer on the Scarlet and Gray one last time.

Ohio State basketball sees its first player enter the transfer portal

The first Buckeyes hoops player to leave the team this transfer cycle. #GoBucks

It was inevitable that the Ohio State basketball team would see a player enter the transfer portal, and that’s exactly what happened on Thursday.

Sophomore guard, [autotag]Bowen Hardman[/autotag], has put himself into the portal after a season that saw him play sparingly. He played in 18 games averaging 4.3 minutes in those contests. Hardman shot well from beyond the arc, hitting 9-of-21 attempts, but just couldn’t scratch out a role with the team.

The 6-foot, 3-inch, 160-pound Ohio native wasn’t seen as a big-time prospect coming out of high school, but did show enough for the Buckeyes to offer him a scholarship. Hardman moving on opens up a scholarship for another transfer if the program decides.

We wish Hardman the best of luck finding a new basketball home.

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Former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson in transfer portal, potential to return to Buckeyes

Could he be returning to the program? #GoBucks

The transfer portal can be a crazy place these days, but it’s not often that a player that transfers to another school gets linked back to his original landing spot out of high school.

In the case of former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson, that appears to be a possible reality after the South Carolina player entered the transfer portal for the second time. You’ll most likely remember that Johnson left the OSU program after his sophomore season and landed in Columbia for the last two seasons.

This year, he helped lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament as the team’s leading scorer with 14.1 points a contest but is now back in the transfer portal according to multiple reports.

So, where will he land? There are rumblings that Johnson may be thinking about a return to Columbus and new head coach Jake Diebler. If that did happen, it would seem to be a good fit. Johnson knows the culture and would add to what many hope is a lot of returning talent on a team that seemed to figure things out at the end of the season.

Of course, nothing is giving in the brave new transfer portal and name, image and likeness universe, but we’ll continue to keep an eye on where this thing goes as Johnson has one year of eligibility remaining.

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WATCH: Ohio State basketball coach Jake Diebler reacts to Georgia loss in NIT

Hear from Diebler after the loss to Georgia. #GoBucks

The Ohio State basketball team had quite the run to end the season, but it all came to an end on Tuesday night when the Buckeyes finished just one play away from continuing on to the semifinals of the NIT Tournament. OSU fell  to the Georgia Bulldogs by a agonizingly close 79-77 score despite more than one chance to win it at the end of regulation.

The loss ends the season for OSU, but the final chapter was written with some hope for the future. The team played with renewed energy and purpose under new head coach Jake Diebler, and hopefully, the players and program can build upon it and take that momentum into next season.

Diebler was understandably upset after the loss but had to face the music in front of the media afterwards and did so with grace. In case you missed any of what he said, thanks to our friends at the Columbus Dispatch, we have his comments in their entirety.

Ohio State will now go into the offseason and we’ll be on top of any news that comes up until the Scarlet and Gray step back on the court to start the 2024-2025 season.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.