Connor Lemons
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Ohio State men’s basketball needs more from its transfer class if they have NCAA aspirations
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Thus far, the sky-high potential of Ohio State’s transfer class has far outweighed the results.
When Jake Diebler was hired back in March, one of the perceived benefits of that decision was that Ohio State would keep the most talented bits of a middling roster around for at least one more season. While each came with their own flaws and quirks, Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Devin Royal, Scotty Middleton, and Taison Chatman were all talents that Diebler and his staff were hoping to keep.
That’s not quite how it turned out. Despite Diebler being their lead recruiter and the person most responsible for getting them to Columbus, Middleton, Gayle, and Okpara all chose to transfer out of the program when the season ended.
Thornton, Royal, and Chatman stayed put at Ohio State. A 50% retention rate for those six players could be looked at as a win or a failure right now, depending on who you ask. Regardless, the departures – in addition to four other players leaving the program or graduating, left several open scholarships.
Diebler – operating largely on his own while he was simultaneously trying to put together a coaching staff in April – swung high in the transfer portal, prioritizing raw talent and high ceilings over known commodities.
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Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart were players who probably didn’t even expect to be playing a second year of college, yet here they are, trying to live up to their vast potential in Columbus after starting out elsewhere as freshmen. Meechie Johnson averaged better than 14 points per game last year at South Carolina but did so on sub-40% shooting both overall and behind the three-point line, and is still struggling to find his footing during his second stint donning the scarlet and gray.
Micah Parrish is the exception to the trend this off-season – a consistent and hard-nosed defender from a consistent and hard-nosed program, San Diego State. Parrish’s scoring has historically lagged well behind his defense. Ironically enough, he’s flipped that assumption a bit at Ohio State thus far, shooting a career-high 36.6% from three-point range and scoring 10.2 points per game.
The Buckeyes are 6-4 through 10 games and 1-1 in the Big Ten. It’s the worst 10-game start for an Ohio State team since the 2015-2016 team started the year 5-5 with losses to Louisiana Tech and UT-Arlington mixed in. That team missed the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.
The Buckeyes have lost three of their last four games, with two of those losses coming by 24 and 38 points. They’re 5-0 in Quad-3 and 4 games, but 1-4 in Quad-1 games, with their only good win so far coming against Texas on opening night.
Ohio State has not put itself in a great position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022 as they get ready to dive into Big Ten play. The Buckeyes’ losses against Pitt, Maryland, Texas A&M, and now Auburn will not hurt them, because those are all quality teams that will make the tournament. However, at a certain point the Buckeyes need to beat those good teams in the non-conference, too, rather than just giving those teams credit for being quality opponents. And they’re almost out of opportunities.
With just one quality win on the resume, the bar that Ohio State will need to meet to earn an at-large bid come March could be a smidge higher than teams like Michigan, Oregon, and Purdue. Those Big Ten teams may sneak into the Big Dance with nine or 10 conference wins plus non-conference wins over teams like Alabama and Texas A&M. Ohio State may need to be in the 10-11 range if they end the non-conference with their only good win being over Texas.
Stinkers against Maryland and Auburn aside, Thornton has by and large continued to be a stud for Ohio State. He is well on his way to becoming one of the all-time leading scorers in program history, currently pacing to finish in the top-five with an outside chance at finishing third or even second. Thornton has not been the issue for Ohio State.
It’s been the transfers.
In the loss to Auburn, Stewart, Parrish, Johnson, and the absent Bradshaw combined for 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting. Against Maryland, that group, which again includes the absent Bradshaw for context, scored 14 points on 4-of-22 shooting and were 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Against Pitt, Parrish played well, but Johnson and Stewart struggled.
The elephant in the room is Bradshaw’s absence. The 7-foot-1 center has now missed six consecutive games, leaving the Buckeyes criminally undersized below the basket. 6-foot-6 Devin Royal is playing center at times. Texas A&M, Pitt, and Auburn all rebounded at least 35% of their own misses. There’s simply no resistance near the rim right now from this Ohio State team.
Even if Bradshaw never blossoms into a superstar center, his length and freakish athleticism is an asset to Ohio State on the defensive end and around the basket. The Buckeyes have missed having him around, there’s no doubt about it. We may never know the full circumstances as to why he has been out or if Bradshaw actually did anything wrong to deserve it, but the bottom line is that through the first third of the season, it has not worked out for him.
Not to belabor the point, but Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State team is not going to go very far if his talented (and expensive) quartet of transfers don’t improve as the season goes on. There have been flashes and moments where Johnson, Stewart, and Bradshaw play well individually, and Parrish has been very impressive in several games thus far.
But if Ohio State is going to make it back to the NCAA Tournament, which is the entire reason Johnson transferred back and Thornton stayed, the group of transfers has to provide better results.
Ohio State went for high upside this summer in the transfer portal, knowing there were also question marks with each player and it was completely possible that the potential just doesn’t pan out. With 21 games remaining, there is time for guys like Bradshaw and Stewart to realize that potential.
But at 6-4 through 10 games, they might want to speed it up just a tad.
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
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Thus far, the sky-high potential of Ohio State’s transfer class has far outweighed the results.
When Jake Diebler was hired back in March, one of the perceived benefits of that decision was that Ohio State would keep the most talented bits of a middling roster around for at least one more season. While each came with their own flaws and quirks, Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Devin Royal, Scotty Middleton, and Taison Chatman were all talents that Diebler and his staff were hoping to keep.
That’s not quite how it turned out. Despite Diebler being their lead recruiter and the person most responsible for getting them to Columbus, Middleton, Gayle, and Okpara all chose to transfer out of the program when the season ended.
Thornton, Royal, and Chatman stayed put at Ohio State. A 50% retention rate for those six players could be looked at as a win or a failure right now, depending on who you ask. Regardless, the departures – in addition to four other players leaving the program or graduating, left several open scholarships.
Diebler – operating largely on his own while he was simultaneously trying to put together a coaching staff in April – swung high in the transfer portal, prioritizing raw talent and high ceilings over known commodities.
Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart were players who probably didn’t even expect to be playing a second year of college, yet here they are, trying to live up to their vast potential in Columbus after starting out elsewhere as freshmen. Meechie Johnson averaged better than 14 points per game last year at South Carolina but did so on sub-40% shooting both overall and behind the three-point line, and is still struggling to find his footing during his second stint donning the scarlet and gray.
Micah Parrish is the exception to the trend this off-season – a consistent and hard-nosed defender from a consistent and hard-nosed program, San Diego State. Parrish’s scoring has historically lagged well behind his defense. Ironically enough, he’s flipped that assumption a bit at Ohio State thus far, shooting a career-high 36.6% from three-point range and scoring 10.2 points per game.
The Buckeyes are 6-4 through 10 games and 1-1 in the Big Ten. It’s the worst 10-game start for an Ohio State team since the 2015-2016 team started the year 5-5 with losses to Louisiana Tech and UT-Arlington mixed in. That team missed the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.
The Buckeyes have lost three of their last four games, with two of those losses coming by 24 and 38 points. They’re 5-0 in Quad-3 and 4 games, but 1-4 in Quad-1 games, with their only good win so far coming against Texas on opening night.
Ohio State has not put itself in a great position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022 as they get ready to dive into Big Ten play. The Buckeyes’ losses against Pitt, Maryland, Texas A&M, and now Auburn will not hurt them, because those are all quality teams that will make the tournament. However, at a certain point the Buckeyes need to beat those good teams in the non-conference, too, rather than just giving those teams credit for being quality opponents. And they’re almost out of opportunities.
With just one quality win on the resume, the bar that Ohio State will need to meet to earn an at-large bid come March could be a smidge higher than teams like Michigan, Oregon, and Purdue. Those Big Ten teams may sneak into the Big Dance with nine or 10 conference wins plus non-conference wins over teams like Alabama and Texas A&M. Ohio State may need to be in the 10-11 range if they end the non-conference with their only good win being over Texas.
Stinkers against Maryland and Auburn aside, Thornton has by and large continued to be a stud for Ohio State. He is well on his way to becoming one of the all-time leading scorers in program history, currently pacing to finish in the top-five with an outside chance at finishing third or even second. Thornton has not been the issue for Ohio State.
It’s been the transfers.
In the loss to Auburn, Stewart, Parrish, Johnson, and the absent Bradshaw combined for 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting. Against Maryland, that group, which again includes the absent Bradshaw for context, scored 14 points on 4-of-22 shooting and were 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Against Pitt, Parrish played well, but Johnson and Stewart struggled.
The elephant in the room is Bradshaw’s absence. The 7-foot-1 center has now missed six consecutive games, leaving the Buckeyes criminally undersized below the basket. 6-foot-6 Devin Royal is playing center at times. Texas A&M, Pitt, and Auburn all rebounded at least 35% of their own misses. There’s simply no resistance near the rim right now from this Ohio State team.
Even if Bradshaw never blossoms into a superstar center, his length and freakish athleticism is an asset to Ohio State on the defensive end and around the basket. The Buckeyes have missed having him around, there’s no doubt about it. We may never know the full circumstances as to why he has been out or if Bradshaw actually did anything wrong to deserve it, but the bottom line is that through the first third of the season, it has not worked out for him.
Not to belabor the point, but Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State team is not going to go very far if his talented (and expensive) quartet of transfers don’t improve as the season goes on. There have been flashes and moments where Johnson, Stewart, and Bradshaw play well individually, and Parrish has been very impressive in several games thus far.
But if Ohio State is going to make it back to the NCAA Tournament, which is the entire reason Johnson transferred back and Thornton stayed, the group of transfers has to provide better results.
Ohio State went for high upside this summer in the transfer portal, knowing there were also question marks with each player and it was completely possible that the potential just doesn’t pan out. With 21 games remaining, there is time for guys like Bradshaw and Stewart to realize that potential.
But at 6-4 through 10 games, they might want to speed it up just a tad.
Continue reading...