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LGHL BOOM! Ohio State lands former Baylor center Josh Ojianwuna
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BOOM! Ohio State lands former Baylor center Josh Ojianwuna
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes are adding more experience and size to their frontcourt.
Jake Diebler and the Ohio State coaching staff added some serious length to its frontcourt today, as former Baylor center Josh Ojianwuna announced that he will transfer to Ohio State for his final year of college basketball.
The 6-foot-10, 230-pounder averaged 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season in 23 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury against UCF on February 8. He scored 10 or more points 11 times last season, including a season-high 16 against Norfolk State on Dec. 11, 2024. His best all-around performance was a 12-point, 17-rebound game against Arizona State on Jan. 11 that Baylor won, 72-66.
At the time, Ojianwuna said that the knee injury would require surgery, and Foster Nicholas of 247Sports reported in the spring that the big man was “expected to miss at least the beginning of the season.”
It is not clear when Ojianwuna had the surgery, or if his recovery timeline will actually force him to miss any of the 2025-2026 season.
Originally from Asaba, Nigeria, Ojianwuna was one of the top international prospects in the 2022 recruiting class before committing to Baylor. He played for both NBA Academy Africa and Canberra NBA Global Academy in Australia before heading stateside and starting his collegiate career at Baylor in 2022. As a high schooler, he finished as the No. 158 player in the 2022 recruiting class and was the 28th-rated center.
Ojianwuna shot a career-high 77.4% last season as Baylor’s starting center before the knee injury. That mark was higher than every player on Ohio State’s team last season, and was more than 20% better than each of the Buckeyes’ main centers, Aaron Bradshaw (49%) and Sean Stewart (54.2%).
He does not have shoot three-pointers, and has only attempted two in his collegiate career – both of which were misses. Ojianwuna is a 64.5% free throw shooter in his career, and has been remarkably consistent at that rate, shooting between 63 and 65.9% each of his first three seasons.
He did not enter the 2025 NBA Draft, but was projected as a possible second round pick this year by multiple outlets that cover the draft. Here is a brief profile of Ojianwuna, courtesy of NBA Draft Room:
“Joshua Ojianwuna is a high energy big man who does all the dirty work and brings great effort on the court. He’s not yet a polished offensive player but he does everything you want a center to do including defending in the lane, rebounding at a high level and running the floor hard. Ojianwuna has tremendous size and length and can really play above the rim.”
Ojianwuna grew up playing soccer in Nigeria and had no aspirations to play basketball. However, around age 13 he was recommended to a basketball coach, and on his second day of practice he was able to dunk. He wore number 17 at Baylor in honor of his father, who passed away in 2017.
Santa Clara transfer Christoph Tilly is expected to start at center for Ohio State this season, but Ojianwuna will be there to provide additional minutes in the frontcourt, as well as sophomore Ivan Njegovan. While he may not be a starter for Ohio State, neither Ojianwuna nor Tilly played 25 minutes per game last season – if he is productive, the former Baylor big man will have an opportunity to play impactful minutes.
Ohio State is expected to add one more player via the portal this summer. They have been publicly linked to several players, including former Texas Tech forward Darion Williams, who is currently going through the NBA Draft process and will participate in the NBA Draft Combine next week.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes are adding more experience and size to their frontcourt.
Jake Diebler and the Ohio State coaching staff added some serious length to its frontcourt today, as former Baylor center Josh Ojianwuna announced that he will transfer to Ohio State for his final year of college basketball.
The 6-foot-10, 230-pounder averaged 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season in 23 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury against UCF on February 8. He scored 10 or more points 11 times last season, including a season-high 16 against Norfolk State on Dec. 11, 2024. His best all-around performance was a 12-point, 17-rebound game against Arizona State on Jan. 11 that Baylor won, 72-66.
At the time, Ojianwuna said that the knee injury would require surgery, and Foster Nicholas of 247Sports reported in the spring that the big man was “expected to miss at least the beginning of the season.”
It is not clear when Ojianwuna had the surgery, or if his recovery timeline will actually force him to miss any of the 2025-2026 season.
Originally from Asaba, Nigeria, Ojianwuna was one of the top international prospects in the 2022 recruiting class before committing to Baylor. He played for both NBA Academy Africa and Canberra NBA Global Academy in Australia before heading stateside and starting his collegiate career at Baylor in 2022. As a high schooler, he finished as the No. 158 player in the 2022 recruiting class and was the 28th-rated center.
Ojianwuna shot a career-high 77.4% last season as Baylor’s starting center before the knee injury. That mark was higher than every player on Ohio State’s team last season, and was more than 20% better than each of the Buckeyes’ main centers, Aaron Bradshaw (49%) and Sean Stewart (54.2%).
He does not have shoot three-pointers, and has only attempted two in his collegiate career – both of which were misses. Ojianwuna is a 64.5% free throw shooter in his career, and has been remarkably consistent at that rate, shooting between 63 and 65.9% each of his first three seasons.
He did not enter the 2025 NBA Draft, but was projected as a possible second round pick this year by multiple outlets that cover the draft. Here is a brief profile of Ojianwuna, courtesy of NBA Draft Room:
“Joshua Ojianwuna is a high energy big man who does all the dirty work and brings great effort on the court. He’s not yet a polished offensive player but he does everything you want a center to do including defending in the lane, rebounding at a high level and running the floor hard. Ojianwuna has tremendous size and length and can really play above the rim.”
Ojianwuna grew up playing soccer in Nigeria and had no aspirations to play basketball. However, around age 13 he was recommended to a basketball coach, and on his second day of practice he was able to dunk. He wore number 17 at Baylor in honor of his father, who passed away in 2017.
Santa Clara transfer Christoph Tilly is expected to start at center for Ohio State this season, but Ojianwuna will be there to provide additional minutes in the frontcourt, as well as sophomore Ivan Njegovan. While he may not be a starter for Ohio State, neither Ojianwuna nor Tilly played 25 minutes per game last season – if he is productive, the former Baylor big man will have an opportunity to play impactful minutes.
Ohio State is expected to add one more player via the portal this summer. They have been publicly linked to several players, including former Texas Tech forward Darion Williams, who is currently going through the NBA Draft process and will participate in the NBA Draft Combine next week.
Continue reading...
C Josh Ojianwuna (Official Thread)
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Basketball
- 18 Replies
24/7 Sports
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baylorbears.com
Josh Ojianwuna
Position: F
Height: 6'10
Weight: 230
High School: NBA Global Academy
Hometown: Asaba, Nigeria
Class: Senior (in 2025/2026)
2024-25 (Junior): Suffered a season-ending knee injury against UCF, missing the final 12 games of the season (2/8/25) ... Had 11 double-figure scoring games, after having just five in his previous two seasons ... Recorded a career-high four double-doubles ... Tallied 10 points in a road game at Texas Tech (2/4/25) ... Notched 11 points in a comeback win against Kansas (2/1/25) ... Pulled down 17 rebounds at Arizona St., which were the most by a BU player against a Big 12 opponent since Freddie Gillespie had 17 at TCU on Feb. 29, 2020 (1/11) ... Poured in 10 points in home win against Cincinnati (1/7/25) ... Notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Iowa State (1/4/25) ... Had 10 points and 10 boards in a win over Arlington Baptist (12/27/24) ... Scored a season-high 16 points against Norfolk State (12/11/24) ... Contributed 13 points in a home win against ACU (12/9/24) ... Went 6-for-6 from the Charity Stripe en route to 10 points against Tarleton (11/17/24) ... Had 11 points against Sam Houston State (11/12/24) ... Scored 10 points in the season-opener against Gonzaga (11/4/25).
2023-24 (Sophomore): Had a game-high seven rebounds in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against Colgate (3/22/24) … Gave the Bears big minutes off the bench with 10 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting in a win at WVU (2/14/24) … Tied a career high with 11 points including three rim-rocking dunks to help lead BU past Cincinnati (1/13/24) … Notched a double-figure scoring effort for the third time in his career with 10 against Gardner-Webb (11/12/23) … Tallied his second-career double-figure rebounding game with 10 boards against John Brown (11/9/23).
2022-23 (Freshman): Matched his career-high 11 points off the bench against TCU (1/4) ... Recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Nicholls (12/28) ... Notched a then career-high 8 rebounds, leading the Bears to a win over Northwestern State (12/20) ... Scored nine points and picked up 7 rebounds in his collegiate debut against MSVU (11/7) ... Had 14 rebounds in first two games of collegiate career ... Debuted with the Bears as they represented Team USA in the inaugural GLOBL Jam in Toronto in July ... He arrived just hours before BU's game against Team Canada but played 14 minutes, scoring 6 points and grabbing 4 rebounds ... Finished second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game in four contests.
High School: Attended NBA Academy Africa in 2017 before transitioning to NBA Global Academy in 2019 … Participated in the NCAA’s Next Generation Sunday event at the 2019 Men’s Final Four … Competed for The NBA Academy Africa the 2019 NBA Academy Games in Atlanta … Participated in Basketball Without Borders Africa 2019 in Senegal … Helped his team to a third-place finish in the 2018 NBA Academy Games for NBA Academy Africa … Competed alongside top prospects from the league’s academies in a series of exhibition games at the NBA G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas in December of 2018 …
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Rivals
Josh Ojianwuna - Men's Basketball - Baylor
Josh Ojianwuna (17) Forward - 2024-25 (Junior) : Suffered a season-ending knee injury against UCF, missing the final 12 games of the season (2/8/25) ... Had ...
Position: F
Height: 6'10
Weight: 230
High School: NBA Global Academy
Hometown: Asaba, Nigeria
Class: Senior (in 2025/2026)
2024-25 (Junior): Suffered a season-ending knee injury against UCF, missing the final 12 games of the season (2/8/25) ... Had 11 double-figure scoring games, after having just five in his previous two seasons ... Recorded a career-high four double-doubles ... Tallied 10 points in a road game at Texas Tech (2/4/25) ... Notched 11 points in a comeback win against Kansas (2/1/25) ... Pulled down 17 rebounds at Arizona St., which were the most by a BU player against a Big 12 opponent since Freddie Gillespie had 17 at TCU on Feb. 29, 2020 (1/11) ... Poured in 10 points in home win against Cincinnati (1/7/25) ... Notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Iowa State (1/4/25) ... Had 10 points and 10 boards in a win over Arlington Baptist (12/27/24) ... Scored a season-high 16 points against Norfolk State (12/11/24) ... Contributed 13 points in a home win against ACU (12/9/24) ... Went 6-for-6 from the Charity Stripe en route to 10 points against Tarleton (11/17/24) ... Had 11 points against Sam Houston State (11/12/24) ... Scored 10 points in the season-opener against Gonzaga (11/4/25).
2023-24 (Sophomore): Had a game-high seven rebounds in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against Colgate (3/22/24) … Gave the Bears big minutes off the bench with 10 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting in a win at WVU (2/14/24) … Tied a career high with 11 points including three rim-rocking dunks to help lead BU past Cincinnati (1/13/24) … Notched a double-figure scoring effort for the third time in his career with 10 against Gardner-Webb (11/12/23) … Tallied his second-career double-figure rebounding game with 10 boards against John Brown (11/9/23).
2022-23 (Freshman): Matched his career-high 11 points off the bench against TCU (1/4) ... Recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Nicholls (12/28) ... Notched a then career-high 8 rebounds, leading the Bears to a win over Northwestern State (12/20) ... Scored nine points and picked up 7 rebounds in his collegiate debut against MSVU (11/7) ... Had 14 rebounds in first two games of collegiate career ... Debuted with the Bears as they represented Team USA in the inaugural GLOBL Jam in Toronto in July ... He arrived just hours before BU's game against Team Canada but played 14 minutes, scoring 6 points and grabbing 4 rebounds ... Finished second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game in four contests.
High School: Attended NBA Academy Africa in 2017 before transitioning to NBA Global Academy in 2019 … Participated in the NCAA’s Next Generation Sunday event at the 2019 Men’s Final Four … Competed for The NBA Academy Africa the 2019 NBA Academy Games in Atlanta … Participated in Basketball Without Borders Africa 2019 in Senegal … Helped his team to a third-place finish in the 2018 NBA Academy Games for NBA Academy Africa … Competed alongside top prospects from the league’s academies in a series of exhibition games at the NBA G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas in December of 2018 …
Josh Ojianwuna - Ohio State Buckeyes Forward - ESPN
View the profile of Ohio State Buckeyes Forward Josh Ojianwuna on ESPN. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights.
| Stats |
|---|
| 2024-25 |
| 2023-24 |
| 2022-23 |
| GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | PF | TO | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 24.6 | 77.4 | 0.0 | 64.5 | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 7.4 |
| 35 | 15.5 | 73.5 | 0.0 | 63.0 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.9 |
| 29 | 13.2 | 59.0 | 0.0 | 65.9 | 3.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 4.2 |
2027 AL ATH Braden Gordon (Verbal Offer)
- By pnuts34
- Football Recruiting
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Class: 2027
Position: DE/LB
School: Montgomery(AL) Montgomery Academy
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 200lbs
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2027 GA RB Caden Waye (Verbal Offer)
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Class: 2027
Position: RB
School: McDonough (GA) Ola
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 205 lbs
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School: McDonough (GA) Ola
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 205 lbs
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2027 OK OL Kaeden Perry (Verbal Offer)
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- Football Recruiting
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Class: 2027
School: Bixby(OK) Bixby
Position: OT
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 280lbs
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2027 DE OL Layton Von Brandt (Penn St. Verbal)
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Class: 2027
Position: OT
School: Middletown(DE) Appoquinimink
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 270lbs
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2027 CA DB Danny Lang (Verbal Offer)
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Class: 2027
Position: CB
School: Santa Ana(CA) Mater Dei
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 170lbs
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Weight: 170lbs
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LGHL Buckeyes playing waiting game for elite transfer portal target Darrion Williams
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Buckeyes playing waiting game for elite transfer portal target Darrion Williams
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ohio State is playing the long game in hopes of landing an elite Texas Tech transfer.
April was a good month for the Ohio State men’s basketball program. After missing the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, Jake Diebler and his staff set out to make sure they were able to bring back the most productive players from last season’s team and then reinforce it with experienced transfer players that addressed weaknesses from last season.
In about a two-week span, they were able to check both of those boxes.
From March 27 to April 15, Ohio State was able to make public the returns of Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal, and John Mobley Jr. – a trio of starters who combined to score 44.4 points per game last season. In addition, former Wright State forward Brandon Noel and former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly both announced that they would transfer to Ohio State. That pair of frontcourt transfers combined to score 31.5 points per game last season at their respective schools.
Since then, it’s been pretty much radio silence from the men’s basketball program. Sean Stewart hit the transfer portal hours before the deadline, but the soon-to-be junior forward was not projected to retain his starting spot he had last season. His departure isn’t nothing, but it does seem negligible if Noel and Tilly prove to be as good as expected.
Ohio State’s inactivity in the transfer market over the past three weeks could be the result of an inability to “land the big one.” The Buckeyes are rumored to be on the lookout for a starting-caliber guard as well a backup center, and had been involved with multiple big-time backcourt pieces, including former Southern Illinois guard Kennard Davis Jr. and former Howard guard Blake Harper.
Davis Jr. announced last week that he would be transferring to BYU, while Harper announced that he would transfer to Creighton for the upcoming season.
While Ohio State may have just whiffed on each of those recruits, it’s starting to look more likely that Diebler and his staff are actually waiting out another player – former Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams.
At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Williams was listed as a forward on Texas Tech’s official roster but has racked up nearly 300 assists in his collegiate career and was second on TTU last season with 3.6 assists per game. He’s also a 37.9% three-point shooter and averaged 15.1 points per game as a junior. He is allegedly considering Ohio State, Kansas, and North Carolina State for next season, as well as possible other suitors that have yet to be publicly linked.
The only issue – well, the biggest issue – is that Williams is hoping that he’ll be playing in the NBA next season, not college.
Williams entered the NBA Draft on April 6, and put his name into the NCAA Transfer portal the same day. On Friday afternoon, Williams, along with 74 other players, was invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine from May 11-18 in Chicago.
A combine invite is promising for a player’s draft stock, and will give the two-time All-Big 12 honoree ample opportunity to improve his draft stock. At the moment, Williams is looking like a mid-to-late second round pick – Tankathon has him going 47th overall, The Athletic has him at 39, and Yahoo Sports has him pegged as the 41st overall pick.
If Williams doesn’t get a first-round guarantee from a team at the NBA Combine next week, there’s a good chance he decides to play one more year of college. He would almost be guaranteed to earn more in NIL compensation at the college level (anywhere from $2-$4 Million) than he would as a middle of the second round selection.
Last season, the 39th pick in the draft – Jaylen Wells – signed a 4-year, $7.9-million dollar deal with the Grizzlies, with an average salary of $1.9-million.
The 47th pick in last year’s draft – Antonio Reeves – signed a 3-year, $5.4-million dollar contract with the Pelicans.
In 2023, the 47th overall pick – Mojave King – was drafted by the Lakers and traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he played a partial season for the G-League Indiana Mad Ants. The average salary for a G-League player is $40,000 If they aren’t on a two-way deal.
Ohio State has not been publicly linked with any other guards/small forwards over the last few weeks, making it seem like the program may be waiting out Williams as he goes through the draft process. On April 25, Diebler told Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch that fans may need to be “prepared to wait a bit” before any more players are added to the roster.
Is this the smart move? The NBA Draft Combine ends May 18, but Williams will have until June 15 to make a decision if he wants to stay in the draft or not. The Buckeyes could come up completely empty-handed if they wait, but is Diebler flipping the old idiom and deciding that two birds in the bush is worth more than the one in his hand?
In other words – is it worth the risk of not recruiting any other starting-caliber players and selling out for someone who (statistically speaking) is more likely to end up on some other team—whether that’s an NBA or college team — come June?
It seems like the answer to that – at least as of now – is yes. They can afford to gamble because Ohio State is returning more production from last year’s team than basically any other Big Ten program.
With Thornton, Royal, and Mobley back, Ohio State is one of just two Big Ten teams – along with Purdue – that will return at least three double-digit scorers. It’s also one of just three Big Ten teams – Purdue and UCLA being the other two – to return three of its top four scorers from a season ago.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25983738/usa_today_25592725.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Colorado at Texas Tech")
Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
If the Buckeyes wait out Williams and don’t get a commitment, they seem fairly comfortable with what they’ve assembled to this point. But adding an All-American caliber player like Williams would be a huge boost to the team and should make them a consensus top-25 squad next season, as well as a serious contender in the Big Ten.
At this moment, it looks like if Ohio State is going to add another starter to the team via the transfer portal, it will be Darrion Williams. If that doesn’t shake out the way Diebler and his staff hope it does, many of the other available options will likely be off the board by the time he makes a decision. It looks like the coaching staff is fine with that.
And so we wait.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ohio State is playing the long game in hopes of landing an elite Texas Tech transfer.
April was a good month for the Ohio State men’s basketball program. After missing the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, Jake Diebler and his staff set out to make sure they were able to bring back the most productive players from last season’s team and then reinforce it with experienced transfer players that addressed weaknesses from last season.
In about a two-week span, they were able to check both of those boxes.
From March 27 to April 15, Ohio State was able to make public the returns of Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal, and John Mobley Jr. – a trio of starters who combined to score 44.4 points per game last season. In addition, former Wright State forward Brandon Noel and former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly both announced that they would transfer to Ohio State. That pair of frontcourt transfers combined to score 31.5 points per game last season at their respective schools.
Since then, it’s been pretty much radio silence from the men’s basketball program. Sean Stewart hit the transfer portal hours before the deadline, but the soon-to-be junior forward was not projected to retain his starting spot he had last season. His departure isn’t nothing, but it does seem negligible if Noel and Tilly prove to be as good as expected.
Ohio State’s inactivity in the transfer market over the past three weeks could be the result of an inability to “land the big one.” The Buckeyes are rumored to be on the lookout for a starting-caliber guard as well a backup center, and had been involved with multiple big-time backcourt pieces, including former Southern Illinois guard Kennard Davis Jr. and former Howard guard Blake Harper.
Davis Jr. announced last week that he would be transferring to BYU, while Harper announced that he would transfer to Creighton for the upcoming season.
While Ohio State may have just whiffed on each of those recruits, it’s starting to look more likely that Diebler and his staff are actually waiting out another player – former Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams.
At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Williams was listed as a forward on Texas Tech’s official roster but has racked up nearly 300 assists in his collegiate career and was second on TTU last season with 3.6 assists per game. He’s also a 37.9% three-point shooter and averaged 15.1 points per game as a junior. He is allegedly considering Ohio State, Kansas, and North Carolina State for next season, as well as possible other suitors that have yet to be publicly linked.
The only issue – well, the biggest issue – is that Williams is hoping that he’ll be playing in the NBA next season, not college.
Williams entered the NBA Draft on April 6, and put his name into the NCAA Transfer portal the same day. On Friday afternoon, Williams, along with 74 other players, was invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine from May 11-18 in Chicago.
A combine invite is promising for a player’s draft stock, and will give the two-time All-Big 12 honoree ample opportunity to improve his draft stock. At the moment, Williams is looking like a mid-to-late second round pick – Tankathon has him going 47th overall, The Athletic has him at 39, and Yahoo Sports has him pegged as the 41st overall pick.
If Williams doesn’t get a first-round guarantee from a team at the NBA Combine next week, there’s a good chance he decides to play one more year of college. He would almost be guaranteed to earn more in NIL compensation at the college level (anywhere from $2-$4 Million) than he would as a middle of the second round selection.
Last season, the 39th pick in the draft – Jaylen Wells – signed a 4-year, $7.9-million dollar deal with the Grizzlies, with an average salary of $1.9-million.
The 47th pick in last year’s draft – Antonio Reeves – signed a 3-year, $5.4-million dollar contract with the Pelicans.
In 2023, the 47th overall pick – Mojave King – was drafted by the Lakers and traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he played a partial season for the G-League Indiana Mad Ants. The average salary for a G-League player is $40,000 If they aren’t on a two-way deal.
Ohio State has not been publicly linked with any other guards/small forwards over the last few weeks, making it seem like the program may be waiting out Williams as he goes through the draft process. On April 25, Diebler told Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch that fans may need to be “prepared to wait a bit” before any more players are added to the roster.
Is this the smart move? The NBA Draft Combine ends May 18, but Williams will have until June 15 to make a decision if he wants to stay in the draft or not. The Buckeyes could come up completely empty-handed if they wait, but is Diebler flipping the old idiom and deciding that two birds in the bush is worth more than the one in his hand?
In other words – is it worth the risk of not recruiting any other starting-caliber players and selling out for someone who (statistically speaking) is more likely to end up on some other team—whether that’s an NBA or college team — come June?
It seems like the answer to that – at least as of now – is yes. They can afford to gamble because Ohio State is returning more production from last year’s team than basically any other Big Ten program.
With Thornton, Royal, and Mobley back, Ohio State is one of just two Big Ten teams – along with Purdue – that will return at least three double-digit scorers. It’s also one of just three Big Ten teams – Purdue and UCLA being the other two – to return three of its top four scorers from a season ago.
If the Buckeyes wait out Williams and don’t get a commitment, they seem fairly comfortable with what they’ve assembled to this point. But adding an All-American caliber player like Williams would be a huge boost to the team and should make them a consensus top-25 squad next season, as well as a serious contender in the Big Ten.
At this moment, it looks like if Ohio State is going to add another starter to the team via the transfer portal, it will be Darrion Williams. If that doesn’t shake out the way Diebler and his staff hope it does, many of the other available options will likely be off the board by the time he makes a decision. It looks like the coaching staff is fine with that.
And so we wait.
Continue reading...
