Columbus Dispatch
Meechie Johnson Jr. breaks silence on why he stepped away from Ohio State midseason
- Meechie Johnson Jr. transferred to Ohio State for the 2024-25 season and was ticketed for a significant role in the rotation.
- After 10 games, Johnson stepped away from the Buckeyes for what was described as a "leave of absence from the team for personal reasons."
- In his first public comments since stepping away, Johnson explains why he stepped away from the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Meechie Johnson Jr. was dealing with multiple personal matters and mental health issues when he decided to step away from the Ohio State men’s basketball team midseason, he said.
In his first public comments since leaving the team, Johnson told The Dispatch that his departure after 10 games was the result of a number of off-the-court issues affecting him to a point where he needed to stop playing basketball.
“I was just going through a lot mentally,” Johnson said. “Mental health is serious. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was something that definitely was affecting me. It was my life. There was a lot going on, and basketball being something that you use to be an outlet, I just didn’t feel like myself mentally.
“I just had to focus on my mental health. That was that.”
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As his absence persisted, Diebler said he remained in contact with Johnson and expressed his support for the guard while asking for respect for what Johnson was working through.
“Meechie and I are in contact regularly,” Diebler said Jan. 20, one day before the Buckeyes won at No. 11 Purdue. “Right now we’re just supporting him the best we can as he works through these personal things. As of today, we don’t have a timetable or clear indication of what’s next. It’s just really been a day-to-day thing, but he and I have been in continued communication.”
While Johnson Jr. has been publicly quiet throughout the situation, he said he wishes more could have been said at the time about what he was going through. He spoke with reporters after a Nov. 22 win against Campbell in what were his final public comments of the season.
“Nothing that coach Diebler or any of the coaches or anybody in the program did wrong,” he said. “Everybody was super, super supportive through this time. The university’s obviously been great to me and I was thankful to have them on my side and supporting me. I would never want people to think that I just quit on the program.
“All I’d say is this: If it was up to me, something would’ve been said about what I was going through.”
Although away from the team, Johnson remained enrolled at Ohio State and was one of five men’s basketball players to earn Winter 2025 Ohio State Academic All-Big Ten honors while pursuing a sports industry degree.
By stepping away from the team after 10 games, Johnson Jr. falls under the threshold for eligibility to apply for a mental health hardship waiver that could allow him to play another season of college basketball. Johnson said the decision to leave the team when he did had nothing to do with the number of games played.
“That had nothing to do with it,” he said. “It was me talking to my therapist and doctors and family. I wasn’t getting sleep. I was going through a lot.
Doctors were like, take a step back for a second and prioritize the right things that matter.”
That led to his departure turning into a season-ending one.
“My therapist, if you talked to her, I was disappointed in a lot of things, not from an Ohio State standpoint but just within myself in how a lot of things went and how I wasn’t able to be there on the court with my team,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of things: ‘Oh, he quit.’ Nah, that’s just not what happened at all.”
Just sayin': I'm now guessing that if he gets through his "mental health issues" and still wants to continue playing basketball (at least for 1 more season) he'll stay at Ohio State. If he doesn't want to and/or isn't able to play basketball; he'll still stay at Ohio State to graduate.
