Josh Dooley
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You’re Nuts: Biggest transfer loss for Ohio State men’s basketball
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Brooke LaValley / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes have lost four players to the transfer portal this offseason.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
A few weeks ago, Ohio State hired/promoted Jake Diebler to be the head coach of its men’s basketball team, with one of the main selling points being roster retention. Surely, the (listed) primary recruiter for most of the guys on the roster – and the man who guided the Buckeyes to an 8-3 finish after Chris Holtmann’s firing – would keep the band together and run it back for a prosperous redemption season, right?
Well, about that...
Since the end of the season and the subsequent opening of the transfer portal, OSU has lost four players, while adding just one (from said portal). And the “add” is actually just a return! Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to have Meechie Johnson back in the fold. But if the Ohio State basketball program was a convenience or retail store, we’d be saying that it’s been looted... Then somebody walked in and returned a single lost item.
In transfers alone, the Buckeyes have lost 65 minutes of playing time, 26 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists per game. So far. If Taison Chatman or Evan Mahaffey also decides to leave, things could get very, very hairy in Columbus.
But I think OSU could already be in trouble. No single transfer (out) was going to “break” the Scarlet and Gray, but in my opinion, the totality of the four – plus Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner – has potential to do so.
Seriously, look at the production Diebler has coming back. Between Bruce Thornton, Felix Okpara, Devin Royal, Chatman and Mahaffey, the returning Buckeyes combined to average 32 points, 17 rebounds, and 8 assists... They’re basically getting back a single Nikola Jokic. And 1 v 5 doesn’t typically go well.
So yeah, color me concerned. Or call me crazy. I just think that having several average-to-good basketball players is better than having a few. I also think that having a coach with 813 career wins and a national title is better than having a coach with eight. But again, I might be crazy.
Anywho, I say all that to say this: I believe that Scotty Middleton is or will be the biggest loss for Ohio State. Which might sound... you guessed it, crazy. After all, we’re talking about a guy who dished out 20 assists in 30 games and set his career highs in both points and rebounds in his first (!) game. But my opinion is based purely on Middleton’s potential.
It feels like forever since OSU last had a productive 3-and-D wing, despite that particular role being such an important piece/position in today’s game. And that is where I think Middleton will thrive in the not-so-distant future.
Middleton finished the season 28-of-62 from beyond the arc, good for 45%. He was literally the Buckeyes’ most accurate three-point shooter. Granted the volume was low, but still. And his defense really came around toward the end of the year. He wasn’t always in the right spots, but that comes with experience. His effort was great, though. And defense starts and ends with effort.
There’s also the fact that Middleton was a top-60 national recruit and inarguably one of the top three or four athletes on Ohio State’s roster. There is no player on the current roster that offers the same package. Not even Thornton, who is obviously a stud but lacks size. Or Royal, who I love as a player and a local product.
Mark my words, Scotty Middleton will break out at his next stop. Or maybe even the one after that, a la Jaedon LeDee. Either way, Middleton is going to produce elsewhere. His combination of athleticism and skill will prove to be a big loss for the Buckeyes, unfortunately.
Josh was nice enough to afford me a layup here — basketball pun intended — so I will in fact go the easy route and say that Roddy Gayle Jr. will be Ohio State’s biggest loss this offseason.
A former top-50 national recruit in the 2022 casual, the Utah native was the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 49 overall player in the cycle. Gayle played rotationally as a freshman, logging around 16 minutes per game while averaging 4.6 points per contest, but really got things going this past season as a sophomore. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 13.5 points per game — good for third-best on the team behind only Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle — while also averaging 4.6 boards and 3.1 assists, good for third and second-best on the team, respectively.
That is a lot of production to replace, on top of losing your second-leading scorer in Battle to graduation. The losses of Middleton and Key hurt as well, especially with Middleton being only a freshman with room to grow and develop after being the No. 50 overall player in the 2023 class. However, Gayle’s role will be especially tough to fill next season, as he likely would have been the team’s second-leading scorer alongside Thornton.
The addition of Meechie Johnson will help soften the blow a little bit, as the former Ohio State guard spent the last two seasons at South Carolina where he averaged 13.4 points per game over that span. However, Johnson is a less efficient scorer than Gayle, shooting 37.1% from the field and 32.8% from three-point range over his three-year collegiate career compared to 44.7% and 33.1%, respectively, for Gayle across two seasons. Johnson is also two inches shorter at 6-foot-2.
With four players in the portal and the lone addition in Johnson, head coach Jake Diebler has three roster spots up for grabs. There are a few obvious names out there as far as Ohio State’s target list goes, including the likes of Matt Allocco, Jalen Sullinger, Otega Oweh, Rowan Brumbaugh and of course Bronny James, among others.
Allocco and Sullinger are both older players with just one year of eligibility remaining. A Hilliard native and two-time second team All-Ivy League player out of Princeton, Allocco is a career 41.2% shooter from beyond the arc and averaged 12.7 points per game last season as a 6-foot-4 guard. Sullinger, son of former Ohio State guard JJ Sullinger and nephew of two-time All-American Buckeye center Jared Sullinger, averaged 15.4 points per game at Kent State this past season.
I’m not even going to try and understand the direction for James, but other younger guys like Brumbaugh and Oweh are intriguing options. Brumbaugh, the No. 16 PG and No. 89 player overall in the 2022 class, played his freshman ball at Georgetown, where he averaged 8.3 points per game and shot 37% from three-point land. Oweh, a player whom the Buckeyes have reportedly “gained traction” with, averaged 11.2 points per game on 49.3% shooting from the field this past season with Oklahoma, and is a bigger guard at 6-foot-5.
There will likely be many more names added to the list of potential targets for Diebler and the men’s basketball team, but it is still tough to lose a guy like Gayle. Can Ohio State go out and get a guy who could potentially match or better what the guard would have done next season? Sure, but it is much easier to already have that guy on the roster and continue his development than take a gamble on a new face out of the portal.
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Brooke LaValley / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes have lost four players to the transfer portal this offseason.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: Who is the biggest transfer loss for Ohio State men’s basketball this offseason?
Josh’s Take
A few weeks ago, Ohio State hired/promoted Jake Diebler to be the head coach of its men’s basketball team, with one of the main selling points being roster retention. Surely, the (listed) primary recruiter for most of the guys on the roster – and the man who guided the Buckeyes to an 8-3 finish after Chris Holtmann’s firing – would keep the band together and run it back for a prosperous redemption season, right?
Well, about that...
Since the end of the season and the subsequent opening of the transfer portal, OSU has lost four players, while adding just one (from said portal). And the “add” is actually just a return! Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to have Meechie Johnson back in the fold. But if the Ohio State basketball program was a convenience or retail store, we’d be saying that it’s been looted... Then somebody walked in and returned a single lost item.
In transfers alone, the Buckeyes have lost 65 minutes of playing time, 26 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists per game. So far. If Taison Chatman or Evan Mahaffey also decides to leave, things could get very, very hairy in Columbus.
But I think OSU could already be in trouble. No single transfer (out) was going to “break” the Scarlet and Gray, but in my opinion, the totality of the four – plus Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner – has potential to do so.
Seriously, look at the production Diebler has coming back. Between Bruce Thornton, Felix Okpara, Devin Royal, Chatman and Mahaffey, the returning Buckeyes combined to average 32 points, 17 rebounds, and 8 assists... They’re basically getting back a single Nikola Jokic. And 1 v 5 doesn’t typically go well.
So yeah, color me concerned. Or call me crazy. I just think that having several average-to-good basketball players is better than having a few. I also think that having a coach with 813 career wins and a national title is better than having a coach with eight. But again, I might be crazy.
Anywho, I say all that to say this: I believe that Scotty Middleton is or will be the biggest loss for Ohio State. Which might sound... you guessed it, crazy. After all, we’re talking about a guy who dished out 20 assists in 30 games and set his career highs in both points and rebounds in his first (!) game. But my opinion is based purely on Middleton’s potential.
It feels like forever since OSU last had a productive 3-and-D wing, despite that particular role being such an important piece/position in today’s game. And that is where I think Middleton will thrive in the not-so-distant future.
Middleton finished the season 28-of-62 from beyond the arc, good for 45%. He was literally the Buckeyes’ most accurate three-point shooter. Granted the volume was low, but still. And his defense really came around toward the end of the year. He wasn’t always in the right spots, but that comes with experience. His effort was great, though. And defense starts and ends with effort.
There’s also the fact that Middleton was a top-60 national recruit and inarguably one of the top three or four athletes on Ohio State’s roster. There is no player on the current roster that offers the same package. Not even Thornton, who is obviously a stud but lacks size. Or Royal, who I love as a player and a local product.
Mark my words, Scotty Middleton will break out at his next stop. Or maybe even the one after that, a la Jaedon LeDee. Either way, Middleton is going to produce elsewhere. His combination of athleticism and skill will prove to be a big loss for the Buckeyes, unfortunately.
Gene’s Take
Josh was nice enough to afford me a layup here — basketball pun intended — so I will in fact go the easy route and say that Roddy Gayle Jr. will be Ohio State’s biggest loss this offseason.
A former top-50 national recruit in the 2022 casual, the Utah native was the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 49 overall player in the cycle. Gayle played rotationally as a freshman, logging around 16 minutes per game while averaging 4.6 points per contest, but really got things going this past season as a sophomore. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 13.5 points per game — good for third-best on the team behind only Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle — while also averaging 4.6 boards and 3.1 assists, good for third and second-best on the team, respectively.
That is a lot of production to replace, on top of losing your second-leading scorer in Battle to graduation. The losses of Middleton and Key hurt as well, especially with Middleton being only a freshman with room to grow and develop after being the No. 50 overall player in the 2023 class. However, Gayle’s role will be especially tough to fill next season, as he likely would have been the team’s second-leading scorer alongside Thornton.
The addition of Meechie Johnson will help soften the blow a little bit, as the former Ohio State guard spent the last two seasons at South Carolina where he averaged 13.4 points per game over that span. However, Johnson is a less efficient scorer than Gayle, shooting 37.1% from the field and 32.8% from three-point range over his three-year collegiate career compared to 44.7% and 33.1%, respectively, for Gayle across two seasons. Johnson is also two inches shorter at 6-foot-2.
With four players in the portal and the lone addition in Johnson, head coach Jake Diebler has three roster spots up for grabs. There are a few obvious names out there as far as Ohio State’s target list goes, including the likes of Matt Allocco, Jalen Sullinger, Otega Oweh, Rowan Brumbaugh and of course Bronny James, among others.
Allocco and Sullinger are both older players with just one year of eligibility remaining. A Hilliard native and two-time second team All-Ivy League player out of Princeton, Allocco is a career 41.2% shooter from beyond the arc and averaged 12.7 points per game last season as a 6-foot-4 guard. Sullinger, son of former Ohio State guard JJ Sullinger and nephew of two-time All-American Buckeye center Jared Sullinger, averaged 15.4 points per game at Kent State this past season.
I’m not even going to try and understand the direction for James, but other younger guys like Brumbaugh and Oweh are intriguing options. Brumbaugh, the No. 16 PG and No. 89 player overall in the 2022 class, played his freshman ball at Georgetown, where he averaged 8.3 points per game and shot 37% from three-point land. Oweh, a player whom the Buckeyes have reportedly “gained traction” with, averaged 11.2 points per game on 49.3% shooting from the field this past season with Oklahoma, and is a bigger guard at 6-foot-5.
There will likely be many more names added to the list of potential targets for Diebler and the men’s basketball team, but it is still tough to lose a guy like Gayle. Can Ohio State go out and get a guy who could potentially match or better what the guard would have done next season? Sure, but it is much easier to already have that guy on the roster and continue his development than take a gamble on a new face out of the portal.
Continue reading...