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LGHL NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Montana State
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NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Montana State
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
The Buckeyes and Bobcats meet in the first round of March Madness.
It’s that time of year again. It’s March Madness, and for the third season in a row the NCAA Tournament goes through Columbus. This time around, Ohio State women’s basketball enters as a No. 4 seed, narrowly earning the right to host the first two rounds, and it begins with a matchup against the No. 13 Montana State Bobcats.
The Buckeyes are undefeated at home this season, while the Bobcats won 23 of their last 24, in a game where the two sides bring eerily similar playing styles.
Montana State earned the right to play NCAA Tournament basketball after winning the Big Sky Tournament, and they did it in exciting fashion. Dubbed “Starch Madness” because of the Boise, Idaho tournament location, Montana State took their regular season championship season into the final against the Montana Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies brought a 14-17 record and an interim head coach into the championship game and nearly won it. Down two points, Montana guard Dani Bartsch hit a three-point shot to give the Grizzlies a one-point lead with 7.9 seconds remaining. The Bobcats attempted a play but the Montana defense was too strong, so forward Marah Dykstra ran around a screen and went to the basket.
Dykstra missed the layup, throwing it over the basket but she did not give up on the play. The junior grabbed the offensive rebound on the other side of the rim and hit the second chance basket as the game clock expired.
“Just to have that moment seal the deal for us to go to March was just such a big deal,” said Dykstra. “But honestly, it’s in the past for me now. I’m just really looking forward to this next game.”
The battle of Montana featured seven lead changes and four ties in arguably the most exciting conference tournament finale of the past two weeks, but like Dykstra said, it’s in the past. The present is Ohio State versus Montana State and it’s a matchup that has similarities.
Defense sticks out the most, with both teams using a full court press. The Bobcats are fifth in the nation in forced turnovers per game (23.67) and lead all Division I programs in steals per game (14.6). While Ohio State is behind them in 11th and 10th place, respectively, the teams played vastly different schedules.
Montana State enters Friday with the 190th strongest schedule in the country, compared to 23 for the Buckeyes. On Nov. 24, the Bobcats played one of their two power conference opponents in the season when they traveled to Utah. The Big 12 side beat Montana State 72-53. To the Bobcats’ credit, they responded.
“What we reflected back on Utah, that was kind of our first big conference game that we had and after that game, we watched film before we went to Las Vegas on just really focusing on doing what we do well and getting back to habits,” said Montana State head coach Tricia Binford.
The Bobcats responded with wins against East Carolina of the AAC and UCF of the Big 12, but the Knights went 6-16 to end the season following that defeat.
Either way, it shows that Montana State can adjust and now, after having a program record season at 30-3, go from the hunter in the Big Sky to the hunted in the NCAA Tournament.
They are led by senior guard Esmeralda Morales, a senior transfer from Portland State, moving within the Big Sky conference to learn from the former WNBA player turned coach in Binford. It worked, with Morales leading the team with 15.3 points and 3.7 assists per game, which earned the senior the Big Sky Player of the Year award.
Morales sets the tone for the Bobcat offense, like Ohio State freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge. The senior stays cool under pressure and directs the team effectively. On defense, Morales adjusted quickly and knew the full court press before the regular season got going for Binford and Montana State.
Elsewhere defensively is Defensive Player of the Year Taylee Chirrick who is amazingly a freshman who only started two of the Bobcats’ 33 games this season. Chirrick led the Big Sky conference with 3.4 steals per game, playing with a seemingly endless motor and turning it into steals.
A question for Ohio State is will there be enough depth to compete with the Bobcats for 40 minutes? Both Cambridge and junior forward Cotie McMahon are good to play after missing the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins with a sprained ankle and right arm injury, respectively.
Beyond that, freshmen Ava Watson and Elsa Lemmilä are game time decisions. The shooting guard Watson has not played since scoring 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc on Feb. 13. The 6-foot-6 center Lemmilä is playing through foot pain and met with a doctor during the week. Lemmilä practiced on Thursday, but was visibly wincing in pain after running a play. Watson participated in practice too and did not have limited mobility.
Should they play, the Buckeyes will have enough depth to rotate effectively to the fast-moving Bobcats. Should they both miss, it gives Ohio State an eight-player rotation that will have little margin for error. Guards Madison Greene and Kennedy Cambridge will get ample minutes and forward Eboni Walker will come in for starting forward Ajae Petty.
Even so, the Buckeyes do have McMahon and Cambridge, who have been enough for Ohio State for much of this season, ending the campaign in third place in the Big Ten behind two No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeded teams in the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Ohio State has confidence through their play and have an idea on how they can effectively work through the Montana State defense.
“As far as our offense, making sure that we execute and just do what we do, making the extra pass when needed,” said McMahon. “Hopefully we can get going in transition. I think we would thrive against them to kind of just push the ball because they do press, yeah.”
The Buckeyes practice against the press everyday when they work on their own. On Feb. 26, Ohio State welcomed the Michigan State Spartans to the Schottenstein Center, a team that also played similarly on defense to the Buckeyes. Ohio State had no trouble dispatching the Spartans in an 89-78 win.
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
G- Esmeralda Morales
G- Ella Johnson
G- Isobel Bunyan
F- Marah Dykstra
F- Katelynn Limardo
Montana State will bring underdog energy into Value City Arena and start the game off strong, but Ohio State will not be surprised by it. The Bobcats will carry a slight lead in the first quarter but the Buckeyes will keep the game manageable until halftime.
In the third quarter, Ohio State will pick up the intensity behind a strong day by Jaloni Cambridge offensively. The guard will excel by getting to the basket and either going to the rim or finding outlets with the Bobcats effectively clogging up passing lanes and leaving room for movement inside the paint.
Overall, the Buckeyes’ athleticism will outmatch Montana State and Ohio State will move on to the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round, on Sunday.
Date: Friday, March. 21, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Television: ESPN 2
Stream: ESPN App
Before the postseason gets fully going on Friday with the start of the field of 64 teams, the Big Ten announced its Academic Big Ten athletes. The Buckeyes had four players earn the honor. Guards Taylor Thierry, Madison Greene and Kennedy Cambridge received the award with forward Eboni Walker joining the trio.
Greene earns the honor for a program-record fifth time in her NCAA career, with Thierry earning her second. It is the first Academic All-Big Ten selection for Cambridge and Walker.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
The Buckeyes and Bobcats meet in the first round of March Madness.
It’s that time of year again. It’s March Madness, and for the third season in a row the NCAA Tournament goes through Columbus. This time around, Ohio State women’s basketball enters as a No. 4 seed, narrowly earning the right to host the first two rounds, and it begins with a matchup against the No. 13 Montana State Bobcats.
The Buckeyes are undefeated at home this season, while the Bobcats won 23 of their last 24, in a game where the two sides bring eerily similar playing styles.
Preview
Montana State earned the right to play NCAA Tournament basketball after winning the Big Sky Tournament, and they did it in exciting fashion. Dubbed “Starch Madness” because of the Boise, Idaho tournament location, Montana State took their regular season championship season into the final against the Montana Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies brought a 14-17 record and an interim head coach into the championship game and nearly won it. Down two points, Montana guard Dani Bartsch hit a three-point shot to give the Grizzlies a one-point lead with 7.9 seconds remaining. The Bobcats attempted a play but the Montana defense was too strong, so forward Marah Dykstra ran around a screen and went to the basket.
Dykstra missed the layup, throwing it over the basket but she did not give up on the play. The junior grabbed the offensive rebound on the other side of the rim and hit the second chance basket as the game clock expired.
“Just to have that moment seal the deal for us to go to March was just such a big deal,” said Dykstra. “But honestly, it’s in the past for me now. I’m just really looking forward to this next game.”
The battle of Montana featured seven lead changes and four ties in arguably the most exciting conference tournament finale of the past two weeks, but like Dykstra said, it’s in the past. The present is Ohio State versus Montana State and it’s a matchup that has similarities.
Defense sticks out the most, with both teams using a full court press. The Bobcats are fifth in the nation in forced turnovers per game (23.67) and lead all Division I programs in steals per game (14.6). While Ohio State is behind them in 11th and 10th place, respectively, the teams played vastly different schedules.
Montana State enters Friday with the 190th strongest schedule in the country, compared to 23 for the Buckeyes. On Nov. 24, the Bobcats played one of their two power conference opponents in the season when they traveled to Utah. The Big 12 side beat Montana State 72-53. To the Bobcats’ credit, they responded.
“What we reflected back on Utah, that was kind of our first big conference game that we had and after that game, we watched film before we went to Las Vegas on just really focusing on doing what we do well and getting back to habits,” said Montana State head coach Tricia Binford.
The Bobcats responded with wins against East Carolina of the AAC and UCF of the Big 12, but the Knights went 6-16 to end the season following that defeat.
Either way, it shows that Montana State can adjust and now, after having a program record season at 30-3, go from the hunter in the Big Sky to the hunted in the NCAA Tournament.
They are led by senior guard Esmeralda Morales, a senior transfer from Portland State, moving within the Big Sky conference to learn from the former WNBA player turned coach in Binford. It worked, with Morales leading the team with 15.3 points and 3.7 assists per game, which earned the senior the Big Sky Player of the Year award.
Morales sets the tone for the Bobcat offense, like Ohio State freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge. The senior stays cool under pressure and directs the team effectively. On defense, Morales adjusted quickly and knew the full court press before the regular season got going for Binford and Montana State.
Elsewhere defensively is Defensive Player of the Year Taylee Chirrick who is amazingly a freshman who only started two of the Bobcats’ 33 games this season. Chirrick led the Big Sky conference with 3.4 steals per game, playing with a seemingly endless motor and turning it into steals.
A question for Ohio State is will there be enough depth to compete with the Bobcats for 40 minutes? Both Cambridge and junior forward Cotie McMahon are good to play after missing the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins with a sprained ankle and right arm injury, respectively.
Beyond that, freshmen Ava Watson and Elsa Lemmilä are game time decisions. The shooting guard Watson has not played since scoring 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc on Feb. 13. The 6-foot-6 center Lemmilä is playing through foot pain and met with a doctor during the week. Lemmilä practiced on Thursday, but was visibly wincing in pain after running a play. Watson participated in practice too and did not have limited mobility.
Should they play, the Buckeyes will have enough depth to rotate effectively to the fast-moving Bobcats. Should they both miss, it gives Ohio State an eight-player rotation that will have little margin for error. Guards Madison Greene and Kennedy Cambridge will get ample minutes and forward Eboni Walker will come in for starting forward Ajae Petty.
Even so, the Buckeyes do have McMahon and Cambridge, who have been enough for Ohio State for much of this season, ending the campaign in third place in the Big Ten behind two No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeded teams in the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Ohio State has confidence through their play and have an idea on how they can effectively work through the Montana State defense.
“As far as our offense, making sure that we execute and just do what we do, making the extra pass when needed,” said McMahon. “Hopefully we can get going in transition. I think we would thrive against them to kind of just push the ball because they do press, yeah.”
The Buckeyes practice against the press everyday when they work on their own. On Feb. 26, Ohio State welcomed the Michigan State Spartans to the Schottenstein Center, a team that also played similarly on defense to the Buckeyes. Ohio State had no trouble dispatching the Spartans in an 89-78 win.
Projected Lineups
Ohio State
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Montana State
G- Esmeralda Morales
G- Ella Johnson
G- Isobel Bunyan
F- Marah Dykstra
F- Katelynn Limardo
Prediction
Montana State will bring underdog energy into Value City Arena and start the game off strong, but Ohio State will not be surprised by it. The Bobcats will carry a slight lead in the first quarter but the Buckeyes will keep the game manageable until halftime.
In the third quarter, Ohio State will pick up the intensity behind a strong day by Jaloni Cambridge offensively. The guard will excel by getting to the basket and either going to the rim or finding outlets with the Bobcats effectively clogging up passing lanes and leaving room for movement inside the paint.
Overall, the Buckeyes’ athleticism will outmatch Montana State and Ohio State will move on to the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round, on Sunday.
LGHL Score Prediction: 78-60, Ohio State Buckeyes
How to Watch
Date: Friday, March. 21, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Television: ESPN 2
Stream: ESPN App
Academic All-Big Ten
Before the postseason gets fully going on Friday with the start of the field of 64 teams, the Big Ten announced its Academic Big Ten athletes. The Buckeyes had four players earn the honor. Guards Taylor Thierry, Madison Greene and Kennedy Cambridge received the award with forward Eboni Walker joining the trio.
Greene earns the honor for a program-record fifth time in her NCAA career, with Thierry earning her second. It is the first Academic All-Big Ten selection for Cambridge and Walker.
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LGHL What a regular season trend says about Ohio State’s chances in the NCAA Tournament
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What a regular season trend says about Ohio State’s chances in the NCAA Tournament
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State University athletic department
How the Buckeyes responded to pressure in the regular season tells a story heading into March Madness.
In one day, Ohio State women’s basketball returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time in program history. There is the usual excitement for March Madness, but the focus surrounding the program is how will the team respond from a horrible display against the UCLA Bruins in the last game of the Buckeyes’ last game of the Big Ten Tournament.
For clues, take a look at the road that the Scarlet and Gray traveled to Friday’s NCAA Tournament tip.
There is no denying that the Ohio State loss to the UCLA Bruins was the worst loss of the season. The Buckeyes lost by 29 points and that was only because the Scarlet and Gray went on a 10-point run to end the game. At the end of the third quarter, UCLA built a 37-point lead, a program-record deficit for the Buckeyes after 30 minutes.
Even if no loss so far this season has touched that level of difficulty in Ohio State’s game, there have been other games this season where the Buckeyes went into games and either walked out with a loss or won by the skin of their teeth.
Look at the third game of the season against the Belmont Bruins where the Buckeyes took a three-point deficit into the fourth quarter that extended to eight points before freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge saved the day in the final minute.
Then there was the first loss of the season for the Buckeyes when the Penn State Nittany Lions shocked Ohio State in State College with a 62-59 upset victory. That was Penn State’s only Big Ten win in 18 games.
After each game, the Buckeyes responded with a victory. Now, the near loss to Belmont had more mid-major non-conference games follow it, but Ohio State did not let up on teams, winning 14 games in a row by an average margin of 26.9 points per game. That included a neutral site game against the Stanford Cardinal where the Buckeyes won by 25 points.
Following the loss to Penn State, Ohio State regrouped and beat three tournament teams in a row against Maryland, Nebraska, and Washington.
So, the Buckeyes are a team that can be great but a lot of it comes after the team gets startled.
“We’re kind of in a similar place we’ve been most of the year in that our good is really good,” OSU head coach Kevin McGuff said. “We just have been an inconsistent team.”
That inconsistency led to a stretch of three losses in five games, with each loss coming to tournament teams like the pair of Big Ten No. 1 ranked teams from Los Angeles with the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans.
Ohio State responded, winning the next three games after an upset defeat to the Indiana Hoosiers, in Bloomington. Those wins earned the Buckeyes a guaranteed No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes lost to Maryland, in overtime, to end the season but recovered in the Big Ten Tournament against Iowa.
When the Buckeyes are feeling up for a game, the result against the Hawkeyes happens. It was a knockdown, drag-out, defensive battle but Ohio State was ready for the challenge, unlike the next night against the Bruins in the semifinal.
Following the loss, the Scarlet and Gray quickly packed up and headed home. There were no player-only meetings or motivational speeches between teammates. The players put their frustrations into practice.
“We just all just try to look at ourselves and what we could have done better,” guard Chance Gray said. “I think most of that issue was just how hard we were playing and the mentality that we came out with and carried it into practice. We had a really good couple of days of practice and I think we always try to do a better job of not dwelling on the loss, but moving on.”
Aside from playing the toughest road trip in the country, playing two top-four teams in Los Angeles in the span of four days, Ohio State has not dwelled on losses and turned them into extra motivation for the next game.
It’s a helpful quality in the regular season but how does that work in the NCAA Tournament? The Buckeyes also did the opposite where they had lulls following emotionally charged games. Both games against Iowa, each featuring games that went down to the wire, turned into losses.
After losing to UCLA in the regular season, a game where the Buckeyes put in the work for three quarters to tie the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the lull hit in the final nine minutes and carried into a one-sided game against the USC Trojans.
In March Madness, teams cannot pick and choose who they decide to play at full intensity. A potential win for top seeds in Columbus on Friday means the Buckeyes take on the Tennessee Volunteers of the SEC. Survive that game and it’s a potential matchup in the Sweet Sixteen against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
The road to a national title is not easy, but that’s how the tournament is designed — the best teams aiming to become the best in the country. Does Ohio State have enough fight to be in the conversation in the second and third weekends of the tournament?
There is one thing for sure, the Buckeyes have yet to peak this season and for any program success in this year’s tournament, now is the best time to start the ascent.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State University athletic department
How the Buckeyes responded to pressure in the regular season tells a story heading into March Madness.
In one day, Ohio State women’s basketball returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time in program history. There is the usual excitement for March Madness, but the focus surrounding the program is how will the team respond from a horrible display against the UCLA Bruins in the last game of the Buckeyes’ last game of the Big Ten Tournament.
For clues, take a look at the road that the Scarlet and Gray traveled to Friday’s NCAA Tournament tip.
There is no denying that the Ohio State loss to the UCLA Bruins was the worst loss of the season. The Buckeyes lost by 29 points and that was only because the Scarlet and Gray went on a 10-point run to end the game. At the end of the third quarter, UCLA built a 37-point lead, a program-record deficit for the Buckeyes after 30 minutes.
Even if no loss so far this season has touched that level of difficulty in Ohio State’s game, there have been other games this season where the Buckeyes went into games and either walked out with a loss or won by the skin of their teeth.
Look at the third game of the season against the Belmont Bruins where the Buckeyes took a three-point deficit into the fourth quarter that extended to eight points before freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge saved the day in the final minute.
Then there was the first loss of the season for the Buckeyes when the Penn State Nittany Lions shocked Ohio State in State College with a 62-59 upset victory. That was Penn State’s only Big Ten win in 18 games.
After each game, the Buckeyes responded with a victory. Now, the near loss to Belmont had more mid-major non-conference games follow it, but Ohio State did not let up on teams, winning 14 games in a row by an average margin of 26.9 points per game. That included a neutral site game against the Stanford Cardinal where the Buckeyes won by 25 points.
Following the loss to Penn State, Ohio State regrouped and beat three tournament teams in a row against Maryland, Nebraska, and Washington.
So, the Buckeyes are a team that can be great but a lot of it comes after the team gets startled.
“We’re kind of in a similar place we’ve been most of the year in that our good is really good,” OSU head coach Kevin McGuff said. “We just have been an inconsistent team.”
That inconsistency led to a stretch of three losses in five games, with each loss coming to tournament teams like the pair of Big Ten No. 1 ranked teams from Los Angeles with the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans.
Ohio State responded, winning the next three games after an upset defeat to the Indiana Hoosiers, in Bloomington. Those wins earned the Buckeyes a guaranteed No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes lost to Maryland, in overtime, to end the season but recovered in the Big Ten Tournament against Iowa.
When the Buckeyes are feeling up for a game, the result against the Hawkeyes happens. It was a knockdown, drag-out, defensive battle but Ohio State was ready for the challenge, unlike the next night against the Bruins in the semifinal.
Following the loss, the Scarlet and Gray quickly packed up and headed home. There were no player-only meetings or motivational speeches between teammates. The players put their frustrations into practice.
“We just all just try to look at ourselves and what we could have done better,” guard Chance Gray said. “I think most of that issue was just how hard we were playing and the mentality that we came out with and carried it into practice. We had a really good couple of days of practice and I think we always try to do a better job of not dwelling on the loss, but moving on.”
Aside from playing the toughest road trip in the country, playing two top-four teams in Los Angeles in the span of four days, Ohio State has not dwelled on losses and turned them into extra motivation for the next game.
It’s a helpful quality in the regular season but how does that work in the NCAA Tournament? The Buckeyes also did the opposite where they had lulls following emotionally charged games. Both games against Iowa, each featuring games that went down to the wire, turned into losses.
After losing to UCLA in the regular season, a game where the Buckeyes put in the work for three quarters to tie the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the lull hit in the final nine minutes and carried into a one-sided game against the USC Trojans.
In March Madness, teams cannot pick and choose who they decide to play at full intensity. A potential win for top seeds in Columbus on Friday means the Buckeyes take on the Tennessee Volunteers of the SEC. Survive that game and it’s a potential matchup in the Sweet Sixteen against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
The road to a national title is not easy, but that’s how the tournament is designed — the best teams aiming to become the best in the country. Does Ohio State have enough fight to be in the conversation in the second and third weekends of the tournament?
There is one thing for sure, the Buckeyes have yet to peak this season and for any program success in this year’s tournament, now is the best time to start the ascent.
Continue reading...
LGHL Grading every Ohio State men’s basketball transfer of the last decade
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Grading every Ohio State men’s basketball transfer of the last decade
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images
Ohio State’s transfers over the past decade have been a mixed bag — some A’s and a few F’s.
College athletes transferring from one school to another has been happening for decades, and even before the transfer portal existed, the Ohio State men’s basketball program has been using transfers to supplement the roster in hopes of winning championships. Ron Lewis, Scoonie Penn, and Lawrence Funderburke – three program legends – transferred before it was “cool” to do so.
But at the turn of the decade, a global pandemic shook up eligibility rules by giving athletes a fifth year of eligibility if they played during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 season. In April 2021, it was announced that players would be able to transfer one time without having to sit out a year, and in 2024 the NCAA removed the “one time” from that rule, allowing players to transfer as many times as they want and become immediately eligible.
And thus, the transfer portal was born.
Wheeling and dealing in the transfer portal has livened up what used to be a dull college basketball offseason, with a batch of nearly 2,000 players transferring last spring. Ohio State added five transfers last season and saw four players transfer out.
But even before the portal, Ohio State has been supplementing its roster with at least one or two transfers nearly every season. A few have been key pieces to very successful teams. Others have fallen well short of expectations, costing the Buckeyes wins by playing poorly or not playing at all.
With that said, here is a list of every single player that has transferred into Ohio State in the last 10 years, starting with the 2014-15 season and ending with this past season. Each player is affixed with a grade based on how well they played or contributed to Ohio State’s success, based on a scientific and not at all subjective grading scale.
Walk-ons fall into their own category, and transfer players who are still at Ohio State at the time of publishing fall into the “Jury’s Out” category because those players still have time to improve or regress.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919165/1137659316.jpg "Ohio State v Iowa State")
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Woods only averaged 10.1 points per game at Ohio State during the 2018-2019 season, but fans will remember him for stepping up big time in the final games of the season, scoring 18 points in a de-facto play-in game in the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana to get Ohio State into the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed. He then scored a season-high 19 points against Iowa State to help the Buckeyes upset Tyrese Haliburton and 6-seed Iowa State.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919173/932523964.jpg "South Dakota State v Ohio State")
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Jackson was recruited out of Eastern Florida State College by Thad Matta in 2016, and wound up being the Buckeyes’ starting point guard for two seasons under Chris Holtmann, averaging 12.3 points per game his final two seasons. He also stunned Indiana at Assembly Hall on Senior Day 2018 with this incredible buzzer-beating three. For a player who was brought up from a junior college, Jackson exceeded expectations at Ohio State in three seasons.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919174/usa_today_22786286.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinal-Ohio State vs Illinois")
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Although Ohio State did not make the NCAA Tournament in Battle’s lone year in Columbus, it doesn’t seem fair to put blame on him. In fact, you could say that without him, Ohio State would have finished with an even worse record during the 2023-2024 season. Battle set a career-high by shooting 43.3% from three-point range and averaged 19.4 points per game over the final 10 games of the season.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22381185/usa_today_15730201.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament-Ohio State vs Illinois")
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
This might be controversial because he only averaged 9.1 points per game in two seasons, but Walker was the perfect point guard for an Ohio State team that earned a 2-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. His assist-to-turnover ratio was better than 2-to-1 and he averaged 11 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. He was also a 94% free throw shooter in his final season.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919177/usa_today_25584506.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Parrish played one season at Ohio State, setting a career-high in points per game at 13.3 and leading the Buckeyes in scoring eight different times throughout the 2024-2025 season. He almost single-handedly carried the Buckeyes to a stunning road win at Purdue by scoring 22 on 8-of-10 shooting but also led the team in turnovers, many of which were of the unforced variety.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24532234/usa_today_20193153.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinals - Michigan State vs Ohio State")
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Even if you ask Sueing himself, he probably doesn’t think he reached his peak potential at Ohio State after transferring from Cal, but he was still a very steady contributor from 2020-2023, averaging double-digit points in two seasons with a lost season (due to a groin injury) sandwiched in between. Sueing scored 10+ points in 41 of his 68 games while at Ohio State, and averaged 12.3 per game during the 2022-2023 season.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919190/usa_today_9763481.jpg "NCAA Basketball: NC-Asheville at Ohio State")
Joe Maiorana-Imagn Images
Thompson was a rock-solid center for Ohio State from 2014 to 2017 after transferring from Virginia Tech. He was second in the Big Ten during the 2016-17 season in rebounds per game (9.2) despite only playing 23 minutes per game. He was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten that season, scoring 10.6 points per game.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25919191/usa_today_20193525.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinals - Michigan State vs Ohio State")
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
McNeil was a solid contributor to an Ohio State team that finished 16-19 in 2023, averaging 9.7 points per game. He scored in double-digits in 17 of Ohio State’s 35 games, stretched the floor a bit, and was the best player in Ohio State’s Big Ten Tournament win over Wisconsin, scoring 17.
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Wheeler’s calling card when he transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season after four years at Penn State was his defense, being named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team twice. His defense lagged a bit in his final college season, but he did set career-highs in points per game (7.1) three-pointers made (38), and free throw percentage (86.1%), while helping take Ohio State to its most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.
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Russell was fine in limited minutes for Ohio State during the 2021-2022 season, scoring 4.2 points per game in 30 games and averaging roughly 13 minutes per game. However, he will forever be remembered as a hero for scoring a season-high 12 points off the bench against Duke at home, helping Ohio State upset the No. 1 team in the country. Prior to that game, Russell had scored a combined three points in Ohio State’s first four games.
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Similar to Russell, Bonner was a role player during his one year at Ohio State, starting two of the Buckeyes’ 36 games and averaging 4.9 points on 32.8% shooting. His big moment came against Michigan State on February 25, 2024, knocking down a game-winning three-pointer over Tyson Walker to beat the Spartans, 70-67. It snapped Ohio State’s 17-game losing streak and also broke a 12-year drought where Ohio State had not won in East Lansing since the middle of the Thad Matta days.
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Rounding out the “single-game heroics” part of the list is Brunk, who played for Chris Holtmann at Butler for one season and then transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season to finish his college career. He appeared in 28 of Ohio State’s 32 games, averaging 7.6 minutes and 2.4 points per game.
But against Michigan State on March 3, 2022, against Michigan State, Brunk played 32 minutes, scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting as the Buckeyes won, 80-69. Both Zed Key and Kyle Young were unavailable for that game, forcing Brunk into action. After the game, Michigan State guard Gabe Brown said Brunk wasn’t even on the Spartan’s scouting report.
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Dakich was a fine role player for Ohio State during Chris Holtmann’s first season, averaging 19 minutes per game and 2.2 shot attempts per game. His half-court buzzer-beater against top-ranked Michigan State is a core memory for a lot of fans, but in general, Dakich brought the ball up, didn’t turn it over, and only took wide-open shots. He did the job he was asked to do.
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“Ice” Likekele contributed across the stat sheet, leading Ohio State in assists nine times during the 2022-23 season and grabbing five or more rebounds 12 different times. He handled the ball quite a bit and only averaged 1.1 turnovers per game during the season, but generally, Likekele did not excel in any area of the game and did not give Ohio State the scoring pop it hoped he would bring after averaging 8.9 points per game at Oklahoma State for four years prior to transferring.
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Since he was a local product, everyone was rooting for Seth Towns to be a star at Ohio State when he transferred from Harvard in 2020, but knee injuries never let him fully show what he had from 2020-2022. His 3.8 points per game during his one healthy Ohio State season sticks out like a sore thumb on his career stats page, and he only averaged 11 minutes per game. It’s unfortunate that his body did not allow him to play freely for his hometown school.
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After leading the AAC in rebounding at Temple during the 2013-2014 season, Lee transferred to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility but gradually lost minutes to both Amir Williams and Trey McDonald before suffering a season-ending groin injury against Rutgers on February 8, 2015. Lee ended the season averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
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Admittedly, Glover was forced into a larger role this past season than was originally planned for a guy who had not played basketball in two years. Meechie Johnson abruptly leaving the team after 10 games slid Glover up the totem pole from emergency ball handler to the main backup to Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr. Glover had moments where he played high-level defense and forced turnovers.
Still, those moments were overshadowed by puzzling shot selection and too many times where larger players took advantage of his height on defense. For the season, he averaged 4.4 points on 34.5% shooting and was 34.4% from beyond the arc.
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Even with his buzzer-beating, game-winning shot against Rutgers on December 8, Holden’s full body of work during the 2022-2023 season fell far short of what everyone expected after being named First Team All-Horizon League twice at Wright State.
Statistically speaking, Holden was fine in small samples, shooting 47.8% overall and 50% from three-point range, but he only played 13.5 minutes per game and it seemed like the role he envisioned at Ohio State may not have been the role the coaching staff had in mind when he transferred. After scoring 12 points against Robert Morris in the season opener, Holden did not score in double-digits again for the rest of the season.
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Sotos never really got comfortable at Ohio State, only appearing in 12 games during the 2020-2021 season before a separated shoulder ended his season. He appeared in 19 games the following season, averaging 7.7 minutes per game and scoring 1.8 points per game.
By the end of the season, he had fallen behind Malaki Branham, Jamari Wheeler, and even Cedric Russell on the depth chart. All together, Sotos scored 54 points in 31 games at Ohio State over two seasons.
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Johnson’s return to Ohio State was brief and not particularly successful. He appeared in 10 games this past season, averaging 9.1 points on 35.5% shooting and 35.7% from downtown. After scoring five points in a loss to Auburn on December 14, it was announced that Johnson was taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, and he never returned.
Johnson’s absence added a tremendous amount of pressure on all of Ohio State’s guards, particularly John Mobley Jr., who was forced to abandon the training wheels immediately and play 30+ minutes per night. Johnson’s 10-game performance was not an “F” but his season-long contributions fell tremendously short of what Ohio State planned on getting from the Cleveland kid when he transferred back to Ohio State.
Danny Hummer (2017-20) and Owen Spencer (2022-24) transferred to Ohio State as walk-ons. Both get an A for effort.
Evan Mahaffey (2023), Aaron Bradshaw (2024), and Sean Stewart (2024) all have at least one year of eligibility remaining. They weren’t included here, because they are still on the roster and any evaluation of their complete performance at Ohio State would be premature right now.
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Ohio State’s transfers over the past decade have been a mixed bag — some A’s and a few F’s.
College athletes transferring from one school to another has been happening for decades, and even before the transfer portal existed, the Ohio State men’s basketball program has been using transfers to supplement the roster in hopes of winning championships. Ron Lewis, Scoonie Penn, and Lawrence Funderburke – three program legends – transferred before it was “cool” to do so.
But at the turn of the decade, a global pandemic shook up eligibility rules by giving athletes a fifth year of eligibility if they played during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 season. In April 2021, it was announced that players would be able to transfer one time without having to sit out a year, and in 2024 the NCAA removed the “one time” from that rule, allowing players to transfer as many times as they want and become immediately eligible.
And thus, the transfer portal was born.
Wheeling and dealing in the transfer portal has livened up what used to be a dull college basketball offseason, with a batch of nearly 2,000 players transferring last spring. Ohio State added five transfers last season and saw four players transfer out.
But even before the portal, Ohio State has been supplementing its roster with at least one or two transfers nearly every season. A few have been key pieces to very successful teams. Others have fallen well short of expectations, costing the Buckeyes wins by playing poorly or not playing at all.
With that said, here is a list of every single player that has transferred into Ohio State in the last 10 years, starting with the 2014-15 season and ending with this past season. Each player is affixed with a grade based on how well they played or contributed to Ohio State’s success, based on a scientific and not at all subjective grading scale.
Walk-ons fall into their own category, and transfer players who are still at Ohio State at the time of publishing fall into the “Jury’s Out” category because those players still have time to improve or regress.
Keyshawn Woods – A
Woods only averaged 10.1 points per game at Ohio State during the 2018-2019 season, but fans will remember him for stepping up big time in the final games of the season, scoring 18 points in a de-facto play-in game in the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana to get Ohio State into the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed. He then scored a season-high 19 points against Iowa State to help the Buckeyes upset Tyrese Haliburton and 6-seed Iowa State.
CJ Jackson – A
Jackson was recruited out of Eastern Florida State College by Thad Matta in 2016, and wound up being the Buckeyes’ starting point guard for two seasons under Chris Holtmann, averaging 12.3 points per game his final two seasons. He also stunned Indiana at Assembly Hall on Senior Day 2018 with this incredible buzzer-beating three. For a player who was brought up from a junior college, Jackson exceeded expectations at Ohio State in three seasons.
Jamison Battle – A
Although Ohio State did not make the NCAA Tournament in Battle’s lone year in Columbus, it doesn’t seem fair to put blame on him. In fact, you could say that without him, Ohio State would have finished with an even worse record during the 2023-2024 season. Battle set a career-high by shooting 43.3% from three-point range and averaged 19.4 points per game over the final 10 games of the season.
CJ Walker – A
This might be controversial because he only averaged 9.1 points per game in two seasons, but Walker was the perfect point guard for an Ohio State team that earned a 2-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. His assist-to-turnover ratio was better than 2-to-1 and he averaged 11 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. He was also a 94% free throw shooter in his final season.
Micah Parrish – B+
Parrish played one season at Ohio State, setting a career-high in points per game at 13.3 and leading the Buckeyes in scoring eight different times throughout the 2024-2025 season. He almost single-handedly carried the Buckeyes to a stunning road win at Purdue by scoring 22 on 8-of-10 shooting but also led the team in turnovers, many of which were of the unforced variety.
Justice Sueing – B+
Even if you ask Sueing himself, he probably doesn’t think he reached his peak potential at Ohio State after transferring from Cal, but he was still a very steady contributor from 2020-2023, averaging double-digit points in two seasons with a lost season (due to a groin injury) sandwiched in between. Sueing scored 10+ points in 41 of his 68 games while at Ohio State, and averaged 12.3 per game during the 2022-2023 season.
Trevor Thompson – B+
Thompson was a rock-solid center for Ohio State from 2014 to 2017 after transferring from Virginia Tech. He was second in the Big Ten during the 2016-17 season in rebounds per game (9.2) despite only playing 23 minutes per game. He was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten that season, scoring 10.6 points per game.
Sean McNeil – B
McNeil was a solid contributor to an Ohio State team that finished 16-19 in 2023, averaging 9.7 points per game. He scored in double-digits in 17 of Ohio State’s 35 games, stretched the floor a bit, and was the best player in Ohio State’s Big Ten Tournament win over Wisconsin, scoring 17.
Jamari Wheeler – B
Wheeler’s calling card when he transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season after four years at Penn State was his defense, being named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team twice. His defense lagged a bit in his final college season, but he did set career-highs in points per game (7.1) three-pointers made (38), and free throw percentage (86.1%), while helping take Ohio State to its most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.
Cedric Russell – B-
Russell was fine in limited minutes for Ohio State during the 2021-2022 season, scoring 4.2 points per game in 30 games and averaging roughly 13 minutes per game. However, he will forever be remembered as a hero for scoring a season-high 12 points off the bench against Duke at home, helping Ohio State upset the No. 1 team in the country. Prior to that game, Russell had scored a combined three points in Ohio State’s first four games.
Dale Bonner – B-
Similar to Russell, Bonner was a role player during his one year at Ohio State, starting two of the Buckeyes’ 36 games and averaging 4.9 points on 32.8% shooting. His big moment came against Michigan State on February 25, 2024, knocking down a game-winning three-pointer over Tyson Walker to beat the Spartans, 70-67. It snapped Ohio State’s 17-game losing streak and also broke a 12-year drought where Ohio State had not won in East Lansing since the middle of the Thad Matta days.
Joey Brunk – C
Rounding out the “single-game heroics” part of the list is Brunk, who played for Chris Holtmann at Butler for one season and then transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season to finish his college career. He appeared in 28 of Ohio State’s 32 games, averaging 7.6 minutes and 2.4 points per game.
But against Michigan State on March 3, 2022, against Michigan State, Brunk played 32 minutes, scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting as the Buckeyes won, 80-69. Both Zed Key and Kyle Young were unavailable for that game, forcing Brunk into action. After the game, Michigan State guard Gabe Brown said Brunk wasn’t even on the Spartan’s scouting report.
Andrew Dakich – C
Dakich was a fine role player for Ohio State during Chris Holtmann’s first season, averaging 19 minutes per game and 2.2 shot attempts per game. His half-court buzzer-beater against top-ranked Michigan State is a core memory for a lot of fans, but in general, Dakich brought the ball up, didn’t turn it over, and only took wide-open shots. He did the job he was asked to do.
Isaac Likekele – C-
“Ice” Likekele contributed across the stat sheet, leading Ohio State in assists nine times during the 2022-23 season and grabbing five or more rebounds 12 different times. He handled the ball quite a bit and only averaged 1.1 turnovers per game during the season, but generally, Likekele did not excel in any area of the game and did not give Ohio State the scoring pop it hoped he would bring after averaging 8.9 points per game at Oklahoma State for four years prior to transferring.
Seth Towns – C-
Since he was a local product, everyone was rooting for Seth Towns to be a star at Ohio State when he transferred from Harvard in 2020, but knee injuries never let him fully show what he had from 2020-2022. His 3.8 points per game during his one healthy Ohio State season sticks out like a sore thumb on his career stats page, and he only averaged 11 minutes per game. It’s unfortunate that his body did not allow him to play freely for his hometown school.
Anthony Lee – D
After leading the AAC in rebounding at Temple during the 2013-2014 season, Lee transferred to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility but gradually lost minutes to both Amir Williams and Trey McDonald before suffering a season-ending groin injury against Rutgers on February 8, 2015. Lee ended the season averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Ques Glover – D
Admittedly, Glover was forced into a larger role this past season than was originally planned for a guy who had not played basketball in two years. Meechie Johnson abruptly leaving the team after 10 games slid Glover up the totem pole from emergency ball handler to the main backup to Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr. Glover had moments where he played high-level defense and forced turnovers.
Still, those moments were overshadowed by puzzling shot selection and too many times where larger players took advantage of his height on defense. For the season, he averaged 4.4 points on 34.5% shooting and was 34.4% from beyond the arc.
Tanner Holden – D
Even with his buzzer-beating, game-winning shot against Rutgers on December 8, Holden’s full body of work during the 2022-2023 season fell far short of what everyone expected after being named First Team All-Horizon League twice at Wright State.
Statistically speaking, Holden was fine in small samples, shooting 47.8% overall and 50% from three-point range, but he only played 13.5 minutes per game and it seemed like the role he envisioned at Ohio State may not have been the role the coaching staff had in mind when he transferred. After scoring 12 points against Robert Morris in the season opener, Holden did not score in double-digits again for the rest of the season.
Jimmy Sotos – F
Sotos never really got comfortable at Ohio State, only appearing in 12 games during the 2020-2021 season before a separated shoulder ended his season. He appeared in 19 games the following season, averaging 7.7 minutes per game and scoring 1.8 points per game.
By the end of the season, he had fallen behind Malaki Branham, Jamari Wheeler, and even Cedric Russell on the depth chart. All together, Sotos scored 54 points in 31 games at Ohio State over two seasons.
Meechie Johnson – F
Johnson’s return to Ohio State was brief and not particularly successful. He appeared in 10 games this past season, averaging 9.1 points on 35.5% shooting and 35.7% from downtown. After scoring five points in a loss to Auburn on December 14, it was announced that Johnson was taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, and he never returned.
Johnson’s absence added a tremendous amount of pressure on all of Ohio State’s guards, particularly John Mobley Jr., who was forced to abandon the training wheels immediately and play 30+ minutes per night. Johnson’s 10-game performance was not an “F” but his season-long contributions fell tremendously short of what Ohio State planned on getting from the Cleveland kid when he transferred back to Ohio State.
WALK ON’S
Danny Hummer (2017-20) and Owen Spencer (2022-24) transferred to Ohio State as walk-ons. Both get an A for effort.
JURY’S OUT
Evan Mahaffey (2023), Aaron Bradshaw (2024), and Sean Stewart (2024) all have at least one year of eligibility remaining. They weren’t included here, because they are still on the roster and any evaluation of their complete performance at Ohio State would be premature right now.
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