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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...