Post by mhbruin on Mar 28, 2024 9:13:07 GMT -8
CHANGES
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Next are the Ohio State Buckeyes, who finished in a 3-way tie for 9th place in the B1G. They fired Chris Holtman midseason. In seven seasons he had a 51% record in the B1G, and a 3-4 record in the NCAA tournament.
Holtmann was fired on February 14, 2024, and Jake Diebler was named the interim head coach for the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes went 5-1 under Diebler to finish the regular season, including a win over #2 Purdue in Diebler's first game as interim head coach. As the #10 seed in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State beat #7 seed Iowa, before falling to #2 seed Illinois in the quarterfinals. They went on to win two games in the NIT.
On March 17, Diebler was officially named Ohio State's head men's basketball coach. It is his first head coaching job.
The Buckeyes had decent ranks at #39 on offense and #61 on defense.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes |
| Jamison Battle | 35 | 35 | 31 | 15 | 5 | 1.4 | Minnesota transfer |
| Dale Bonner | 36 | 2 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1.2 | Transferred from Baylor |
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Battle, who was a 43% three-point shooter. He was one of their two best. The other is in the NBA draft and the transfer portal.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| Scotty Middleton | 30 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | Yes, but unlikely |
Middleton couldn't get more than 15 minutes per game as a freshman, even though he was the team's best three-point shooter. He was a 4-star, #50 prospect. He's projected as a second-round pick.
If he doesn't stay in the draft, he is in the portal. Scotty wants to be beamed out of Columbus.
TRANSFERRING OUT
So far, promoting Jake Diebler for continuity is not paying off. Five players are transferring out, including one starter.
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes | Destination |
| Scotty Middleton | 30 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | Seton Hall | |
| Bowen Hardman | 18 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | Akron | |
| Zed Key | 36 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 4.1 | 0.5 | Dayton | |
| Roddy Gale | 36 | 35 | 31 | 14 | 4.6 | 3.1 | Michigan | |
| Felix Okpara | 35 | 34 | 24 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | Tennessee | |
Starting shooting guard Roddy Gale probably didn't win any hearts in Columbus when he transferred to arch-rival Michigan. Maybe it isn't so bad. He was a shooting guard who only shot 28% from the arc. However, he was still the starter, even though they had a 45% shooter coming off the bench.
Starting center Felix Okpara (who may be the only major college player named "Felix") led OSU in rebounds and blocks, while shooting 59% from the floor. With 5-star center Aaron Bradshaw on his way from Kentucky, he might have seen the writing on the wall.
Bowen Hardman and Zed Key don't have to cross state lines to reach their new schools. They do have to live in Akron and Dayton, however.
RETURNING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Bruce Thornton | 35 | 35 | 34 | 16 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 43% | 33% | 4.0 | Jr | 4 | 51 |
| Devin Royal | 33 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 51% | 15% | 0.4 | So | 4 | 49 |
| Evan Mahaffey | 35 | 35 | 22 | 4 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 43% | 12% | 1.8 | Jr | 3 | 187 |
| Taison Chatman | 17 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 33% | 27% | 0.6 | So | 4 | 39 |
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Coach Diebler returns two starters and a couple of guys from fairly deep on the bench.
Bruce Thronton is an elite point guard, who led the Buckeyes in scoring, assists, steals, and minutes played. He was #2 in the nation in A/TO ratio.
Evan Mahaffey has limited offensive skills (which is a nice way of saying he shot 12% on three-point shots), but was a solid defender and "glue guy".
Devin Royal and Taison Chatman played a bit. They also return Kalen Etzler and Austin Parks who played even less. 6-10 Parks is the only size they have other than transfer center Aaron Bradshaw.
This group doesn't include a ton of experience or three-point shooting.
RECRUITS
(#46 class, #10 in BiG)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Juni Mobley | 6-2 185 | PG | 4 | 41 | Creighton, Arizona St, LSU |
| Colin White | 6-6 180 | SF | 3 | 124 | Northwestern, Akron, Butler |
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Maybe Mobley will turn out to be the three-point shooter they need. It's a lot to ask of a freshman point guard.
TRANSFERRING IN
(#13 class, #5 in BiG)
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | A/TO | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Transfer Rank |
| Meechie Johnson | 6-2 180 | 33 | 33 | 29 | 14 | 4 | 2.9 | 40% | 32% | 1.8 | South Carolina | Sr | 4 | 100 | 75 |
| Aaron Bradshaw | 7-1 225 | 26 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 58% | 29% | 0.8 | Kentucky | So | 5 | 5 | 35 |
| Micah Parrish | 6-6 194 | 37 | 36 | 28 | 9 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 39% | 29% | 2.3 | San Diego St | Sr 5 | Unranked | 288 |
In this episode of "The SEC Comes to Columbus", two players are transferring in from SEC schools, and they are good ones.
The big name in this class is McDonald s Alll American Aaron Bradshaw. He was the No. 1 center and the No. 5 overall prospect in the 2023 class. "The 7-footer can step out and hit 3-pointers and is more mobile as a perimeter defender than most college centers," CBS' David Cobb wrote.
Bradshaw averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in his lone season with the Wildcats. He missed the start of the season with a foot injury.
Bradshaw is the highest-rated player to play for Ohio State since Jared Sullinger was the No. 3 national recruit in the 2010 class.
Meechie Johnson played 2 seasons at Ohio State, then transferred to South Carolina for two seasons, land now is returning to the Buckeyes. He's from Cleveland, so he is kind of heading home.
He led the Gamecocks in scoring, mostly because he led them in FG attempts. He wasn't a great shooter.
Michal Parrish was a key reserve for the San Diego State team than went to the national championship game. Last season he was a starter for the Aztecs. He's not a great shooter, but he is an excellent defender.
So far, these transfers don't seem to fill Ohio State's lack of returning three-point shooting.
CONCLUSION
This is a talented roster with a 5-star and five 4-star players. However, there are some issues First, there is the lack of outside shooting.
Then there is the common problem with many college teams these days. Only three guys on the roster played many minutes for the Buckeyes last season. They are going to have to integrate a lot of new players. They have to develop team chemistry and learn to play with each other. It can be done, but it is not easy.
The other big unknown is Coach Diebler. We have seen this story before. The team rallies around an interim head coach, and he is promoted to head coach. Sometimes it works out and sometimes you end up with Steve Lavin.
There are a lot of unknowns about OSU, but I suspect they once again end up just on the wrong side of the bubble.
Torvick projects the Buckeyes as the #35 team in the country and the #11 team in the B1G. He projects 19-12 (10-10) record.
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JAKE DIEBLER, OHIO STATE
Profile: Diebler, 37, got one of the Big Ten’s top jobs after going 6-2 — with a win over Purdue in his first game — as interim coach following the in-season firing of Chris Holtman.
Style of Play: It’s too early to know what Diebler’s first team of his own will look like, but important to note that Ohio State played with real energy for him. Was that adrenaline on the Buckeyes’ part or something more?
Recruiting Profile: No matter who the coach is, Ohio State is the big dog in talent-rich Ohio, one of the biggest brands in the Midwest, a national player and one of Nike’s favored sons. They will always have players. Purdue has won a lot of head-to-head recruiting battles with the Buckeyes in recent years, but on very specific types of player who’ve been inclined to commit early to the Boilermakers.